Strange Clothes
by JumpingTheMoon
Summary: The first book in my novelization of SOAL. From where the adventure begins, to where Fina enlists their help on a greater mission. Rated T for adult suggestions, violence, language. This book is complete.
1. Boarding Action

Authors Note- I have replaced my scene borders- the last thing I used wouldn't even show up, so this time I will use 0-0. This should be easy enough to tell. Also, the angular brackets version of ( ) doesn't show up either. Just for warning.

* * *

**Skies Of Arcadia Legends**

**Book One- Strange Clothes**

_By Jonathan Pelikan_

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Chapter One- Boarding Action

The silver moon hung, giant and beautiful, in the sky. Fina sighed and brushed a lock of gold from her large, gentle eyes. Her home was so close, and yet she knew the distance was actually great.

"_Do not trust anyone on this world, Fina. They are all deceitful. The Crystals are your priority."_

"_Yes, Elder Prime."_

"_Also… find Ramirez. Learn of his fate for us who can no longer see."_

She had pale, nearly sheet-white skin, with large sad green eyes and a white dress and veil adorned with symbols of gold, the marks of her unique culture. As the clouds rushed past, she had no clue that danger was looming behind her graceful Silvite vehicle, in the form of a Valuan Armada Flagship. _H.M.S Cygnus_.

Alfonso, son of the Empress and admiral in the Armada, stood on the bridge. He had slicked-back platinum blonde hair, and handsome, youthful features that belied the rotten core within. His admiral's uniform and shoulder-tassels had been padded, and along with the shock-white cape that fell from his back, were obviously designed to enhance his slight frame.

"Admiral, we have visual contact on the girl's ship," Vice Captain Rivers announced. The faithful servant of Alfonso for years was his most trusted aide. His face and body were marked with scars, so he usually adorned the regular full-body armor of a regular soldier. The only rank markings he had were twin ribbons from his shoulder-plates, but everyone gave him great respect.

"Excellent. Gunnery Officer, prepare to open fire." Alfonso's voice resembled his appearance; royal, high, and pampered. "Load your guns with concussion shells, and do not hit the ship directly. We need the girl alive so that we may…. question her later."

"By your command, Admiral Alfonso!" The officer saluted, then turned to the crew below him on the deck. "Forward batteries, range, 1.2 kilometers. Six second fuse, concussion shot. Prepare to fire."

The flat-topped turrets of the battleship rotated to face the nose, and the distant ship. Valuan cannons went for mass-effect, not accuracy, so even a near hit would knock out exposed enemy crew.

The shells were loaded via automated ammunition racks; the only human presence were the gunners, manning computerized stations on the bridge that linked directly with their weapons. The autonomous system was a revolutionary military technology, made possible by Valua's electrical supremacy.

The Admiral smiled maliciously. "Fire."

0-0

Vyse Dyne was a pirate. Everything said that about him, his blue sailor's tunic with torn upper-arms held in place by scarlet straps, his skyglass that was strapped to his right eye, his twin cutlasses forged from stones of the red moon, the scar over one eye, and the unruly chestnut-brown hair.

Except for his face, which was handsome, and courageous, and kind. The sort of face you could learn to trust.

Onboard the _Albatross_, he sat on the lookout position, scanning across the skies around him, darkened by night. Because of his glass' zoom function, his father, the captain of the vessel and leader of the Blue Storm Pirate Clan, had assigned him to this job. It was either that or swabbing the deck and shoveling moonstones into the ship's aged engines, so he quickly accepted.

Because of windburn danger he only scanned every few seconds, ducking under a blanket to cover himself. At this velocity he also clung to the rail of the crow's nest, just in case. It was a long drop to Deep Sky, where air pressure would crush you before you hit some kind of ground, miles below, at terminal velocity.

He saw the flash in the distance to the side of the ship. Squinting, he zoomed in that way, and spotted at a distance of three kilometers the outline of black. A ship. Twin flames belched from it, igniting two more stars in front of it. He couldn't spot their target, however.

Taking out a roll of parchment from his pocket, he glanced between the picture-capture he had taken of the silhouette and the list of ship types and nationalities that lookouts found vital. When he positively identified it, his face split into a mischievous grin. "Awesome." He turned to the brass talking-tube that connected down to the bridge of the ship. "Dad!"

A second later, the mature voice of his father bellowed back over the wind, "What is it, Vyse?! Have you spotted something?!"

"Yeah! You're not gonna believe this!"

One minute later, on the bridge of the wooden sailing ship: "You're right, I don't believe it," Captain Dyne frowned. "Even as I look right at it. A Valuan Admiral is stupid, or desperate, enough to go out unescorted to Mid Ocean."

"Which is a hive of scum and villainy like us," Vice Captain Briggs chimed in.

"I resent that," The Navigation Officer said idly, seated at the oak-hewn table with a dozen maps and various cartography and mathematical instruments scattered across it's surface.

"Well, as Blue Rogues, it is our duty to liberate any cargo possible from armed ships of war. And this qualifies twice-over. Adjust course to intercept, and dive 20 degrees. We'll come up directly to their side, so they won't see us."

"What about their radar?" Briggs asked, already at the wheel and making the course adjustments.

"Remember that jamming box we bought on Sailors' Island a few months back? It's time to put that to the test. If it works like it was advertised, it should completely negate their scans. They'll be blind to our approach until we start shooting at them." He turned to his son. "Vyse, I want you to lead the first team of boarders. Take Aika, Rodgers, and Luke."

"Yes, sir," The young pirate agreed, giving his father a thumbs-up before dashing out of the control room and onto the deck.

0-0

"Admiral Alfonso, the girl has been knocked unconscious, and marines have taken her aboard. Do you wish to have her ship scuttled?"

"Well, we can't carry it and mooring it to the deck would make it ever so cumbersome. Yes, blow it up."

Three engineers set Pyri bombs, explosives imbued with the power of a basic Red Moon Spell, on the ship's two remaining operational engines, then leapt up and climbed the rope back onto their ship. A mage began to chant, and summoned a runic circle that glowed around his feet. "Moons, Give Me Strength!" He beseeched, and sparked off the bombs. The engines were engulfed in flames immediately with a large roar and sizzling noise.

No sooner had Alfonso watched the crippled ship descend past deep sky on the radar displays, they want blank. He blinked twice. "Rivers, the radar just stopped working."

The Vice Captain was puzzled for a moment, then it hit him. Before he could voice his warning, the first shell slammed into the heavily armored side and exploded. The deck-plating shivered and Alfonso gripped for a railing, failing to steady himself. Rivers caught his arm, helping him up gingerly.

"What in the Moons is going on!?" He demanded, his voice going ever higher with his child-like indignation at the unknown and scary.

"There's a ship off the port side," A deck officer declared, gazing out a window, directly eye-level with the Blue Rogue flag for a moment as the _Albatross_ climbed to their side. Once near it, the twelve black cannons sticking out from the wooden ship's side spat fire, a broadside that rocked and shook the ship and pierced two decks.

"Air Pirates!" Alfonso and Rivers declared at the same time, in shock.

On the deck, five of the Rogues tossed tow-cables across the short distance between the two warships. The metallic hooks caught on the railing, and the secured the other side to wooden wenches, held in place by the very support pillars of the ship's sails.

"Pull us away!" Alfonso demanded, and the helmsmen began to veer left. With a terrible screeching sound and a shiver down the columns of the ship, the _Albatross_ held fast to the _Cygnus_, keeping relative position. The Admiral realized that this was the worst tactical position to be in. Not only could the Pirates board his ship or simply blast it until it fell from the sky, but his own cannons could not return the fire, as the angle was too severe for their aiming mechanisms.

"All hands, prepare to repel boarders," The Vice Captain declared over the PA System.

Vyse was still in the Crow's Nest, but now his mission was different. Standing up to the railing with cutlasses drawn, he leapt into the sky, feeling the wind hit him full force as gravity seized control of his flight.

Hitting the metal deck on a roll, he uncurled and stood, in fighting stance with one blade in attack position and the other in a good parrying hold. Surrounding him were seven Valuan soldiers, their teal, angular armor plates making them look both comical and deadly.

Lights from the conical control tower threw sudden illumination on them all, revealing him perfectly. "Well," The pirate said confidently. "Hi there."

"You fool!" The sergeant of the squad declared, raising one armored fist. "Can you not tell that we are the Valuan Imperial Armada?!"

"Of course," Answered the youth. "You guys always have the best stuff. I'm Vyse, by the way. And in a few moments I'm gonna be separating you from everything valuable you have."

The soldier debated whether to laugh or roar. He lowered his weapon, breaking out into a barking, unpleasant sort of laugh that only Valuans could manage. "Attacking all of us, all by yourself? You're either brave, or stupid. We'll be tossing you overboard now."

"How are you gonna do that when we cut your arms off?" Luke the Raider was the second pirate down, landing next to Vyse with his single blue-moonstone sword drawn. He was youthful, with hair almost identical to Vyse's, but wore a red sailing tunic instead of blue, and black pants.

"Where's Aika?" Vyse asked.

"She said she had to get something from the hold," Chimed in the third member of the boarding party, Rodgers, as she flipped off the head of one Valuan and landed perfectly shoulder-to-shoulder with Vyse. She was wearing a jet-black coat that reached her ankles, and had twin daggers that were nearly transparent- the rare Silver moonstone, whose domain of magic was life and death. The weapons behaved as such.

"Figures she'd be late," Luke noted dryly. "As usual."

Annoyed that in their last moments of life they chose to mock him and his men with such insolent behavior, the sergeant growled. "Silence, wretches! You're still only three on seven! And we are the best crew in the Armada!"

"Really?" Vyse said, then stuck out his tongue. "If so, I'm not worried at all."

"Kill them!" The non-commissioned officer yelled, charging forward himself.

Luke reached into his pouch for something. A Sacri Crystal, enchanted with the lowest level of healing spell, under the domain of the Green Moon, which was life and organic matter. Handing it to Vyse, he smirked, the turned to face the two Valuans who were going after him.

He crouched, delivering an uppercut. Parrying, the sergeant pushed forward, entangling their weapons as the two men fought to push the swords into their opponent. The other Valuan leapt behind him, ready to run him through from the back while he was occupied.

"Better late than never," Aika and Vyse had told each other every time they were late. Now as it rang out, the soldier looked upwards to find the source of the voice, only to see the descending boot.

She hit him at terminal velocity, in the face. The armor held, but the concussion banged his head against his helmet hard enough to knock him clean out. The enemy fell limply down onto the deck, metal clanking on metal, and also cushioning her fall. She flipped over and landed next to Luke.

Surprised by this, the officer turned to look at Aika, for a split second loosening his grip. Luke pressed the advantage, ramming both swords into the armor, which split. He would have been fatally ran through, but he fell backwards to the deck, blood spilling out over the metallic plating.

"Finally," Vyse said, who was blocking and attacking skillfully against one of the soldiers. Neither combatant found an opening.

"You're worse than I am!" Aika did not look like a pirate. With radiant beauty, delicate features, and a skin-tight yellow dress that showed off her maturing figure, she looked more suited to royalty. Only her weaponry, an incredibly large boomerang of green translucent moonstone material, and the flame-red hair tied into two distinctive braids, gave away her profession. She turned, tossing the weapon into the air.

It arced, spinning and producing an emerald glow in the air around it. When it hit the back of one assailant, he shook as he force threw him off balance. Rodgers took the opportunity and jumped up, drop-kicking the soldier over the railing. He fell, and fell, until he was out of sight.

Finding a single opportunity, Vyse's opponent left him a nasty gash on his hip. The boy cried out, leaping backwards and crouching. "Luke!" His friend turned to keep the enemy busy while the pirate pulled out the stone. Placing it over the wound, be closed his eyes and focused what little magical talent he had learned in the Green School to work.

Lines of green power circled him, and the stone used up half of it's charge, closing the wound and evaporating the blood, leaving only a rip in the side of his pants. Even the pain was gone.

Aika went over to him. "Are you alright?" Vyse nodded, and stood. "Good," She grinned, taking out a small wooden box. "Stand back."

"What's that?" He asked.

"Crystalen Box," She replied, breaking the seal of the magically enchanted container. Crystalen was a medium-power spell of the Purple Moon, that which covered ice and coldness. "Moons! Give Me Strength!"

A spike of ice materialized, running through the two Valuans that Luke had been dueling. They were enveloped in the magical frozen ice, and floated, totally stopped.

"That should keep them busy." Luke helped Rodgers fight off yet another enemy, and together they put a dozen dents in his armor, through which the man's blood began to leak. His back hit the wall, and tried to duck. Aika tossed her boomerang again, hitting inches above his head, and making a glittering dent in the metal.

"I surrender!" He declared, staying the two Pirates before they could finish the wounded soldier off. The Valuan tossed his sword onto the deck and put both of his arms into the air, breathing heavily.

"What about you?" All four pirates now turned towards the last hostile combatant, who looked defiant.

"I will never surrender myself to you scum," He declared proudly, puffing out his armored chest. Three seconds later a spark pinged the side of his helmet, and he fell down, dead from the bullet lodged into his skull.

"You were the smart one," Dyne said to the surrendering Valuan, placing another bullet in his smoking aqua-colored moonstone pistol. Briggs and the Navigator flanked him to either side, with carbines of red moonstones.

"Dad!" Vyse grinned.

Dyne huffed in annoyance. "Vyse, I told you, when we're out here, you're to call me 'Captain', not 'Dad'."

"Fine, 'Captain'. What's our orders now?"

The pirates' leader considered for a moment. "You four, go meet the Captain of the ship and inform him that it's now our ship. Landis, take the prisoner to the brig then wait for our return. Me and Briggs will secure the Engineering Deck."

"Aye aye," All the pirates yelled. Vyse led his group into the door, and down a hatch. He leapt to the floor ten meters below, the other three took the convenience steps on the side of the shaft.

"Sometimes, I think you just like jumping for the hell of it," Luke said, setting down second. "Looks like a cargo area."

"An _empty_ cargo area," Rodgers added idly, glancing around. "Hey, there's only one crate in here." She walked over, throwing it open. "Ten Sacri Crystals," She announced. "Must be the medical supplies. They'll be needing these soon, but let's take em anyway."

There were two doors exiting the cargo bay, on different sides of the room. "Which way is the Bridge?" Aika enquired.

Vyse blinked. "Erm."

"Great," Luke said. "Let's split up."

The Blue Rogue nodded in agreement. "Alright. Aika, you're with me. Luke and Rodgers, go the other way. Be careful, everyone. These guys are all likely as good as the people on the deck." Rodgers handed him five of the crystals, keeping the other five.

0-0

After passing through a dozen empty hallways, they emerged in a two-story room with walkways above. On them was a procession; ten guards surrounding Admiral Alfonso and Vice Captain Rivers. The Admiral's first officer had a large bag slung over his armored shoulder, and each of the Valuan guards had yellow rifles. One shot from them would electrocute a human into unconsciousness.

Alfonso caught sight of the two of them, and cast a contempt-filled glance down upon them. "Well. Air Pirates have decided to… infest my ship."

"I take it by your arrogant attitude and attempt to play dress up that you're this ship's Captain?" Vyse grinned.

The Valuan Royal Admiral paused for a second, then looked upwards and declared in a way that made the pirates suspect he had practiced and recited this many times before, "I am Admiral Alfonso the Fifteenth, commanding the First Fleet in the Valuan Armada and son of the mighty Empress Teodora. Common filth such as yourselves would usually never get so close to me. Consider yourselves honored."

Rivers was good-natured, however he was a little clumsy, and allowed the bag to shift in his grip so that the cover slipped down, revealing a veil and well-groomed golden hair over a pale forehead.

"Only honored to know that we get to rob you," Vyse announced. "Who's the hostage? I never thought a… man of your 'stature' would stoop to kidnapping."

Alfonso's eyes narrowed. "Very observant, filth. Guards, dispose of them." At this order, all the soldiers raised their rifles, cocking them.

"Uh-oh," Aika managed to say, staring down ten barrels that crackled already with lighting energy from the yellow moonstones used to enchant them.


	2. Rescues and Memories

Chapter Two- Rescues And Memories

Vyse frowned and thought for a second, casting his gaze around. From the catwalk, the soldiers had a clear field of fire everywhere on the bottom story of the room. There was no place they could take cover from the enemy fire. Leaping up and engaging the enemy in melee combat would leave them completely open in mid-air. Then an idea struck him. It was their only chance.

"Aika, get behind me." Without thinking, she reacted, leaping to his back. She was having the same thought, and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Vyse concentrated on what his father had taught him; one of the two 'Spirit Moves', that ran not off of magical or physical prowess, but the willpower and mental determination of the caster.

"_Son, while your Cutlass Fury attack can obliterate single enemies, and is an offensive spirit move, there is also a defensive technique that can save your life. It's called the Counterstrike. Focus all your thoughts on your blades, and put them both level to your face. This will drain you, but if used correctly can even stop gunfire."_

"I hope I don't regret this," The boy moaned, then sighed, closing his eyes and putting all of his will into his cutlasses. They began to glow a swirling blue color, and light flowered from his outline. "Bring it on!" He bellowed.

They did. Ten balls of lightning slammed into him, full force, creating a massive explosion of light and heat, blinding all the Valuan soldiers. When the smoke cleared, standing in the middle of a pool of melted and re-cooled jagged metal deck, was Vyse and Aika, still standing.

The pirate gasped, kneeling. Aika grinned. "That was amazing! We both survived that attack." She frowned, releasing him. "Are you ok, Vyse?"

"Tired," He managed to say. 'But I'm still in the fight."

Alfonso whimpered, rubbing his eyes. "It stings," He said, opening them, the Valuan squinted and blinked. "W-what?! You're still alive?! Impossible!"

"Nothing's impossible for a Blue Rouge!" Vyse countered, smirking.

"Well, if you want this ship that badly," The blonde sneered at his enemies. "You can have it. I'll just get another. Guards! Reload and hit them again!" With that, he and Rivers turned, dashing down a hallway. The Valuan shoulders slapped fresh clips of ammunition into their firearms and took aim once more.

Aika took the initiative, clapping her hands together. As a more magically adept person, she knew several basic offensive spells. Looking through her memories, she found the right one. "Moons! Give Me Strength!" Casing Weevil, a spell of the Blue Moon, she summoned several gallons of water, which flooded over the Valuans. Their guns combined with the water, electrocuting it. Their metal armor proved natural conductors, shocking all of them into unconsciousness.

When the magical water dissipated seconds later, the limp bodies of the soldiers crashed against the far wall in a large heap. Vyse followed Aika up the stairs, pursuing Alfonso. They reached a dead-end in the hallway, at a huge steel bulkhead which was sealed off.

"Damn," Vyse pounded his fist against the metal. Surprisingly, this did not open it, but only made his hand hurt a little more.

"Vyse, I found another passage. It looks like it leads the same way." She waved to him from the end of the ten-foot metal tunnel, then turned and opened the door. She was now staring at the night sky, as wind rushed by her. "It leads out of the ship," Aika said, pointing to a series of steps leading up the side of the hull. "I think we just found a route to follow Admiral Douche Bag through."

He nodded. "Ladies first."

Her mouth twisted into a wry smile. "Want to catch a nice view of my ass, hm?" She cocked an eyebrow and looked very sly, putting her hands on her hips.

Vyse felt a blush tinge his cheeks as he said, "N-no! Not at all! Aika, this isn't the time for kidding around!"

The female pirate nodded, grinning. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry." And she turned, taking the first metal rung in her gloved hand and beginning to climb up. Although he was fatigued, he followed her, making a point to himself specifically to stare anywhere but Aika.

0-0

"Admiral Alfonso, the sun is up and visibility is good." Rivers worked at a control panel, inputting the codes that would release the clamps on Lifeboat Two. "The preparations for your departure are complete." He glanced out the open hatch. "It's safe for you to leave now."

"Good work, Rivers," Alfonso said, drawing his rapier while Rivers was glancing between the lifeboat's navigational computer and the open hatch, making last-minute checks and calculations. "I've finished my preparations as well."

"My lord?" Rivers did not look up from his work, until he finished. When he did, he found the blade at his throat, and he jumped back. "W-what's going on?!"

"I'm about to dispose of a traitor," He declared, eyes narrow slits of malice.

"You don't mean…" The Vice Captain said, dawning upon the realization that his own commanding officer was about to betray and kill him. He didn't even have a weapon with which to defend himself.

"Well, I cannot just go back to Valua and tell Mother that I lost the _Cygnus_ to Air Pirates, in a fair fight!" He said this as if it were a universally obvious fact. "To keep my glorious reputation in-tact, I'll need a scapegoat to unload the blame on. You, the Vice Captain, are the perfect candidate. I'll say you provided the Rogues with insider information and allowed them to take over the craft, and all I could do was kill you and escape with my life and the girl."

"Please, reconsider this, Admiral!" Rivers pleaded, backing up to the wall and wincing as the blade followed him, dangerously close to him. Even his armor wouldn't save him from several direct hits.

"You just don't get it, do you?! I want you dead! Now!" He issued this order as if it were an order to increase engine power to full-speed ahead.

"But Alfonso, I…." He was interrupted as Alfonso began to strike him. Several blade hits, and he was bleeding from ripped pieces of his metallic armor. He fell to the ground, and the royal son twirled his sword into a coup de grace position, holding the point a meter over the wounded officer.

"Even in death, you will serve me well." He began to bring the sword down.

"Alfonso! Stop!" The Admiral paused, neglecting to finish him off as he turned to see Vyse and Aika running for him, weapons drawn. Instead, he chose to save himself, leaving the girl and his Vice Captain, leaping aboard the activated lifeboat and starting the engines.

"I won't bother dealing with you slime directly. I'll just let my personal War Beast do you in. Antonio!" He whistled daintily. "Come."

Vyse paused mid-way through the large landing bay, looking around. "I don't see anything…" Even as he said this, he felt the deck-plating began to rumble, getting more intense in a rhythmic pattern, until it stopped. Both pirates turned to the main door, the one that had been sealed off to stop them.

The bulkhead exploded out, flying into the sky and disappearing as it was pulled downwards under the clouds. Vyse felt dread about what lurked in the shadowed corridor behind it, that could project such force. Then it came. Stamping out, about three meters tall, an armor-plated rhinoceros hybrid. Antonio.

"Kill them, kill them all, then go find the other pirates! And kill them, too!" He then laughed a dainty little laugh, and kick-started the lifeboat, whose propellers whirred to life.

"Get back here!" Vyse bellowed, but it was too late, and Alfonso was off, into the sky. The pirate growled. "I wanted to take that punk out…"

"Vyse, we have other problems right now." Antonio had decided to start for them, barreling down in a walk-trot that shook the deck beneath them. Vyse turned and sighed. "What are we going to do?" Aika asked, more than a little intimidated by the beast.

"Duck," Vyse ordered, and she did so. Electricity flowed from both of the creature's horns, forming a single beam that shot outwards, overshooting Aika by less than a meter. The girl squeaked in surprise, and stood again, getting an idea.

"Vyse! Attack it's head-plating! Get that off, and I can try an Alpha Storm!" Her only Spirit Attack, it was a spiraling firestorm that damaged enemies. If Aika could cast it so that it hit the rhino-machine's head and flowed through the cracks between it's armor and body, she could cause massive damage.

He nodded, then charged forward. Antonio tried to block him with one electrocuted horn, but was much too slow. Vyse got off three powerful blows to the helmet, denting and cracking it. His forth hit shattered it, and the creature roared in pain. It bucked forwards, hitting him and cracking several of his ribs with the force of its momentum.

Vyse cried out. Aika gasped, and watched him crumple up. Then she turned to face Antonio, getting shocked, then slowly turning to anger. "You… you hit Vyse… you bastard!"

"Fire, Consume My Enemy!" She called forth while dashing at him, quicker than Vyse. Flames began to crackle from her boomerang, and she slid to a halt directly before the beast. She stabbed the beast in the face, and called out, "Alpha Storm!" Flames filled the beast's armor, it's solidarity helping to concentrate the heat, and thus, the damage.

She withdrew as Antonio began to flail in pain, roaring powerfully. Rivers watched from the ground as the prized instrument of his treacherous Admiral died, clutching his bleeding wounds. Eventually, the flame cycle ceased, and Antonio lurched forward, landing on the deck and denting it inwards with it's sheer weight.

Aika ran over to her lifelong friend, crouching next to him. "Vyse!"

Vyse managed a pained smile. "It hurts, but I'll live. Give me a couple of Sacri Crystals." She did so, gladly, and after four healing charges, he was restored to mostly normal, although he was still fatigued incredibly. "After we get back to Pirate Isle, I'm going to sleep in for a week."

Aika snorted, mostly because she knew how much Dyne would like that idea. Not at all.

He stood up, then sighed, looking around. "Hey, that Valuan officer is still alive." They went over to him, thoughts of the kidnapped girl out of their mind for the moment in the knowledge that she was safe. Vyse kneeled next to him, taking off his helmet. Rivers coughed blood onto his hand, sighing.

"Greetings, Blue Rogue," He said quietly, gasping as the blood began to make air circulation a little harder. When Vyse held up one of their three remaining Sacri crystals to start healing him, he put his blood-covered hand onto it and pushed it back down. "No, no. Don't waste your medicines on me."

"But you'll die," Aika objected, surveying his wounds. "Alfonso hit you pretty badly before we stopped him."

"After a lifetime of serving the Empire?" He coughed and laughed at the same time. "I guess death won't be so bad." Rivers' eyes began to glaze over, but he grabbed Vyse's shoulder. "Please… promise me one thing, from one sailor to another…"

"What is it?"

"Stop Alfonso," He pleaded quietly, his voice loosing volume. "Not for me… for the others… for everyone. He's… not right, he's evil…" With one final cough, he slumped back, his grip on Vyse's shoulder slacking. The two pirates watched him, then shook their heads.

"I never learned your name," Vyse said to his unconscious form. "But I promise, I will stop Alfonso some day. Don't worry." Aika couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw the dieing man's mouth twist upwards slightly in contentment. Maybe it was just her imagination.

She sighed, turning to look around. "Well, he got away. But we won the battle, and got his ship. Man, what a coward."

"A rich coward." Vyse smiled slightly. "Lucky for us."

"Hey, there's the hostage," Aika announced, pointing to the crumpled form of the girl. Vyse walked up to her slowly, getting his first good look at her. She was quiet beautiful, and he commented just that idly. Her manner of dress, however, was one that neither of them had ever seen before.

"Strange clothes," Was the only observation Dyne made as he and Briggs walked into the docking bay. "Well, let's get her a room on the _Albatross_." He turned to look at the corpse of the Vice Captain and Antonio's remains, cocking an eyebrow. "You'll need to tell me all about what happened here, Vyse. But for now, let us celebrate. We've won the day."

Briggs nodded. "This is possibly our biggest catch in… hell, twenty years."

Vyse nodded. "Aye, sir. Oh, and can I make a request?"

"Yes, Vyse?"

"I'd like a sailor's burial for this Valuan officer." The request slightly puzzled Dyne, but he granted it, as it seemed obvious he fit the main criteria. Plus, he found it more than slightly poetic that this fallen enemy be given a proper burial.

0-0

"And so, we commit the body of this unknown soldier, a loyal servant of Valua, who was cut down in cold blood by his commanding officer, to the sky that he lived in. To the sky that he died in." Dyne finished the eulogy, sighing as his entire crew observed the dead soldier, in full armor, holding a sword they had found on the body of another Valuan officer; the weapons commander.

The pallbearers, including himself, Vyse, Luke, Mabel, and Wedge, moved the open-air casket forward, perched on the railing. "Eternity awaits," They all said, before gently dumping the casket off the side of the _Albatross_.

Vice Captain Rivers fell, and fell, into Deep Sky. His last voyage in the skies of Arcadia, and the end of an honorable and distinguished career. All Vyse knew of it was that he had a promise to him to stop Admiral Alfonso.

After the funeral, Vyse got leave to rest until his next regular shift on the deck. This meant he didn't have to help unloading the booty, which would likely take hours. Hours he intended to spend sleeping.

He reached his double-bunk, and climbed on top, dozing off peacefully.

Aika came in a few minutes later, glancing into the girl's room. She was sleeping soundly. Then he decided to go to Vyse, and sighed, sitting next to him. She gently ran her ungloved hand across the scar that he bore to this day. The scar that she was responsible for.

It was some time ago, she did not remember exactly. Vyse had spotted a ship in trouble; a massive fire was destroying a Valuan flagship, and Dyne had sent across rescue parties to save anyone they could before the ship began to loose altitude.

Aika and Vyse hadn't brought weapons, because it was only a simple rescue mission. A small girl, believing they had attacked the ship, was brandishing a knife at them. A throwing knife.

Without thinking, he had thrown himself in the path of the knife, taking it on the cheek, with a big bloody gash to show from it. Not pausing, he took the knife and tossed it aside, casting a spell to put the girl to sleep.

So, because she had been careless, and Aika hadn't been able to dodge or stop him, Vyse had taken a wound that even Sacri spells couldn't cure completely.

He had always protected her. And she had tried to do the same, even if she wasn't as strong as him. Leaning down, she planted a feather-light kiss on his cheek, then quickly left, just in case she had awakened him. She did not, and Vyse kept slumbering, blissful and unaware.

Eventually he woke up, yawning and stretching. He leapt out of bed, and looked around. The only one in the room, he went outside into the corridor, and found the strange girl's room. Aika was sitting next to her. The pirate girl looked up.

"Vyse, you're awake. She's coming to, as well. I was about to go get you."

Fina opened her eyes, seeing the oak-hewn roof of the room. She blinked several times, then looked down, and found two people in the room, standing at her bedside. She put her hands up to her mouth timidly.

"Hi," Aika chirped, overlooking the fact that the girl seemed pretty afraid.

"Um… hello…" She looked between them several times. Vyse found himself absently thinking that her eyes were deep and beautiful, yawning once more into his hand loudly. "Where am I?"

"You're onboard our ship, the _Albatross_," Vyse replied with a benevolent smile. "We're Air Pirates. Blue Rogues under Captain Dyne, specifically."

"Erm… what is an air pirate?"

The two friends exchanged bewildered glances. Aika was the first to reply. "What, you've been sailing out alone in Mid Ocean and you don't know what an Air Pirate is?"

Immediately, she blushed and cast her gaze down. "I'm sorry, it's just… this is my first time traveling away from home."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Vyse assured her, casting a stern glance to Aika before explaining himself further. "Air Pirates are crews of people who don't belong to any navy, but sail the skies looking for treasure and adventure."

Aika interjected with her own information. "There are two factions of pirates; the Black Pirates are people who attack anything that flies."

Fina gasped. "Attack?"

Vyse snorted. _Way to put her at ease, Aika_. "Don't worry about it. We're Blue Rogues, we only attack armed vessels. Especially Valuan ships. And we help out anyone in need. Hence, why we rescued you."

"Oh…" The girl smiled slightly, which for some reason which created a butterfly in Vyse's stomach. "Thank you for that…"

All three of them paused for a moment, in thought, before Dyne's voice broke the silence, through the talking-tube near the roof of the room. _"Vyse, are you awake yet? If so, I'd like you to report to the Bridge for your regular duties. If you slack off on purpose I'll let Aika pilot us on the final leg instead of you."_

"By the Moons!" Vyse slapped his own forehead. "I forgot about that. Oh, well. I'll still get there in plenty of time." He smiled to her. "I have to go, now."

"Wait," Aika said. "We forgot to ask… what's your name? Mine is Aika."

She smiled, giggling. "Yes, that would be a good thing to know about each other. I am Fina. It's… nice to meet you."

"Fina, huh? I'm Vyse. Your name sounds..." He searched around for a good compliment, but he was slightly distracted by her, and only managed to complete the sentence with "feminine." He winced as he realized it wasn't much of a compliment at all.

"Really?" Fina asked innocently. "You think so?"

"Yeesh, you try to compliment someone, and no reply whatsoever," He teased her slightly, grinning.

"That wasn't much to get all riled up about," Aika giggled. "If you think that's a good compliment, you've got a lot to learn about women, Vyse." Fina giggled as well. Vyse laughed slightly, all in good fun, then took his leave.

He made good time to the Bridge. It had panoramic windows to give an excellent, and breathtaking, view of the skies around them. Littered across the front wall were control surfaces, the primary one being the all-important steering wheel that Vice Captain Briggs was manning. Navigator Landis sat with two others at a table, chatting animatedly and drawing symbols on the maps around him.

Dyne turned around, uncrossing his arms. "Vyse. You're late."

"Aw, Dad," Vyse whined. "Only by a little bit. I was talking with the girl we rescued from the _Cygnus_, Fina. "

"She told you her name, did she? Interesting. That must mean she trusts you somewhat..." He nodded. "Well, anyway. I wont make you swab the decks today, after your great victory. But I'm letting Aika handle the final approach."

Vyse sighed, malcontented. He always loved flying the _Albatross_ on the rare opportunities that Dyne allowed it. "Alright."

"You've got to nip this punctuality thing in the bud, son. You've been getting later and later ever since you could walk." Thusly began another of Captain Dyne's patented lectures. Vyse seemed to be listening intently, giving no visually obvious signs of his boredom, such as rolling his eyes. Inside, he was steadfastly focusing on everything but the words of his father. When he finished, Vyse nodded and expressed his assent.

On the deck of the ship, Fina walked up to the railing, watching the form of an island grow in the distance, their obvious destination. She sighed, leaning on the wooden ship's form, thinking about everything that had happened so far.

"Hey, Fina." She jumped slightly, turning around to see Vyse, walking out onto the deck.

"Oh… hello, Vyse. Is that your home?"

The pirate nodded. "Pirate Isle. Although you won't find it as such; we're called Windmill Isle on all maps around here. Dad seemed to think naming an island after pirates was like putting up a giant signal flare for the Valuans: shoot here."

She giggled quietly into her hand. "Your father sounds like a wise leader."

Vyse nodded. "He is." Turning to look up at the Blue Rogue banner flying on one of the pillars of the wooden ship, he grinned. "He turned a deserted island into a thriving village, and has led his crews to a bunch of victories. Frankly, though, he can be a little on the hard side when it comes to discipline…"

The _Albatross_ approached close enough to make out figures on the ground of the island. Several children frolicked and played on the main courtyard of the little village. Seeing this, Fina smiled affectionately down on the people, who were massing to watch the return of their ship.

Descending past the ground, she was now looking at solid rock. Puzzled, she turned to Vyse, who pointed back toward the island.

A large slab of rock had split suddenly, and began to descend, with the roar of grinding gears. The opening entry-way was suspended by two massive steel chains on either side of the door, which slowly lowered it to a horizontal position. Fina seemed amazed that the island had literally opened up it's insides to accept the ship.

Darkness fell upon them as they entered a huge cavern-hangar, and they both hung onto the side as the ship made a dull thump upon landing. Moorings and anchors dropped, securing the airship firmly to the ground of the isle.

The sails began to roll up, and Vyse smiled, leading his guest off the deck as dozens of crew flooded it to make final packing preparations for the sails, and moorings, and dozens of other shipmate tasks that the girl had no experience about whatsoever.

Aika joined them on the Bridge, and grinned proudly. "See that landing? That was all me, you know."

"Yes, yes, you're great," Vyse said broadly. "Dad's gone ahead to his office to hang up some new trophy. He told me to bring Fina up to him as soon as we get settled in."


	3. Home Is Where The Heart Is

Chapter Three- Home Is Where The Heart Is

Although it looked solid from the outside, Pirate Isle was practically hollow. The cavern-like underground Port was the base for the pirate crew of the _Albatross_, which rested in it's moorings next to the multi-leveled living quarters, armories, shops, and the office of their captain, Dyne.

On the lowest deck, level with the sailing ship's loading ramp, most of the crew was gathered, distributing the large piles of loot. Mabel the Raider grinned and dragged off a bag of gold that was taller than she was. Luke snatched several new weapons and armor. Briggs tossed Vyse a purple moon stone, 4000 Gold, and several potions and crystals with various interesting effects.

"We won't be going hungry for a long time," Landis declared, munching on a leg of meat from one of the ration bags that had been carried off from the _Cygnus_, before they had let the crew and the ship return to Valua.

Fina watched them, puzzled. "What are they going to do with all of these yellow coins?"

"Huh? The gold?" Aika asked.

"Yes. What is… gold?"

Again Vyse and Fina exchanged stunned looks. Vyse incredulously asked her, "You're kidding, right? Gold is the common currency of all Arcadia. Everyone uses it."

Fina looked down to her feet. "In my… country, we have no gold."

"No gold?" Aika tried to wrap her head around the concept. "You guys must be pretty poor."

Vyse shook his head, leading the way up the ramp to the level on which was carved the seal of the Dyne Family, and led to the office that contained his father. "Let's just go, guys. If we're late dad will have a heart attack. And nobody wants that, now do they."

"You're so mean to your dad, Vyse."

They reached the wooden door, and Vyse opened it softly, stepping inside. The room was oak-paneled and well lit, with bookshelves containing a wealth of rare tomes and scrolls that had been accumulated over many years, along with the swords of dozens of air pirates and naval captains from several nations. Paintings on the wall featured this ship, and a mysterious object that no one really knew.

Dyne was seated, alone, at the head of a long table full of charts, maps, and messages. He looked up as his son entered. "I have brought Fina as you asked, 'Captain'." Vyse stepped aside, admitting the foreign girl, who walked into the room timidly. Aika backed her up, pulling the door closed behind them.

"So, you are the strange girl we have rescued." It was a statement, not a question. "Do you know who I am?"

"No, sir," She shook her head, intimidated.

"I am Dyne, the leader of this clan. We are Blue Rogues, who help people like you, people in distress. Will you answer some questions that I have?"

"Yes," Fina replied after pausing slightly.

"First. Your clothing is unlike any I have seen in all my years. From what country are you?"

She looked away, not offering an answer.

"What's the matter? Don't you trust us? Is it because we're Air Pirates?" Dyne cocked one eyebrow. Vyse and Aika swapped worried glances as Fina faltered.

"It's not that," She said. "Please, believe me. I am grateful for your assistance. It's just…"

"Just what?"

"I have been sworn to secrecy. I cannot divulge any details…"

"Details about what?" Dyne was persistent, laser-focused.

Vyse shook his head and stepped forward, deciding now would be a good time to speak up. "Dad, why are you hassling her? I'm sure she has her reasons. If she doesn't want to tell us where she's from, I don't think we should force her…"

"Enough, Vyse. And it's 'Captain'. Understand something, girl. We may have helped you, but if you're a danger to my men, or anyone on the island, I won't hesitate to stop you."

"Captain!" Aika interjected, a little stunned.

Fina looked up, straight into his eyes, her own mysterious green orbs wide. "Please, Captain. Please believe me, I have no reason to hurt you or anyone else."

Dyne paused for a second, then he leaned back and sighed. "Very well. I can tell liars and dishonorable people when I see them, and you are neither. I won't force you to divulge anything you don't want to." He smiled wistfully. "Looks like I lost this one."

"Alright, Dad!" Vyse gave his father the thumbs-up sign again, grinning. "You're the best!"

"Regardless, you have my trust, Fina. For now. Be careful not to loose it."

After they had met with Dyne, the three teenagers emerged up the final ramp, topside onto the island. Sunlight flooded over them again. Aika rolled her eyes, and said, "You know, the Captain was more than a little paranoid back there."

"I'm sure he means well," Fina noted.

Vyse nodded. "Can you blame him? A lot of people in the world aren't exactly what they claim to be. Not everyone is as heroic or honorable as me, you know."

"Anyway, Fina, this is the village on top of the base, where the families of our crew live. That's Vyse's house over there, mine is on the far side. Here's the windmill, the dojo, and the ladder that leads up to Lookout Island." She pointed to a 30-meter long ladder leading to a small chunk of rock floating over the rest, on which had been built a bench and docking space for a small boat.

"This seems like a nice place to live."

"Oh, it's alright," Vyse said. "But a little too small for my tastes. I prefer to be out on the skies."

Aika tugged at her left hair-bun irritably. "Damn hair, it's been frizzy ever since that lightning attack by Antonio. I'll tell you what, let's all get cleaned up and we can meet at Lookout in time to watch the sunset before dinner."

"Sounds like a plan," Vyse nodded. "We'll see you later." Aika waved, then ran off to her own house. The boy turned to Fina and held out his hand, leading the way. She took it, and they began their tour of the island.

When the came to Aika's house, Vyse noticed a brightly colored patch on the side of the wooden wall. Stepping closer, he curiously took it. It was a cloth, draped over a hole in the wall. Fina was about to warn him, but it was too late. The Blue Rogue put his eye up to it, and found that it was directly leading to Aika's room.

She was changing her clothing when Vyse arrived, and her alluring body was wrapped only in her undergarments. He blushed, watching her move around for several seconds. Her breasts seemed to have grown quite a bit since he last noticed, and her feminine shape sent a small shiver all the way through him.

"What's there?" Fina's question surprised him back to alertness, and he turned back to look at her, replacing the cloth.

"Nothing important," He lied. She seemed disbelieving but was not willing to push the issue any further. They did not tarry as they went to his own house, where his mother gave them both a warm greeting.

Fina bowed politely, and she smiled, clapping her hands together. "So polite! What a nice young girl."

Vyse was about to suggest going over to Aika's again, this time to cajole her into getting mobile, when she walked into the ajar doorway. "Hey, guys," She greeted casually. "The sun's getting ready to set."

He avoided eye contact with her, nodding. "Alright. Let's go."

It took a small while to climb up to Lookout Isle, but when they got there they could rest on a wooden bench Dyne had thought to add. The island itself couldn't have been larger than four meters across, but it had a rail around it to stop people from falling off. Fina took a seat next to her rescuers and new friends, and gazed out at the blazing setting of the sun. The clouds above and below the ground were awash in red hues.

Above the setting sun, at it's eternal position in the sky, was the Silver Moon. Fina felt no small measure of regret as she watched the glimmering gray orb. Her home.

"It's all so beautiful," Aika cooed.

"Yeah," Vyse nodded his assent. "You know, Fina, me and Aika come up here a lot to just watch the sunset." His gaze wandered towards the infinite sky. "One day… I'd like to see what's beyond the sunset."

"Beyond the sunset?" The timid girl glanced over to him._ If only I could tell him…_

"Yeah-" He trailed off and pointed to the Silver Moon. Pinpricks of light appeared, much different from the stars, which shouldn't have been out yet anyway. The girls followed his finger with their eyes, watching the dots increase in size.

With the flaming trails etching through the amber skies, Aika gasped. "Whoa. A moonstone shower!" Dozens of meteorites rained through the sky. Just for fun, Vyse tracked one of the lunar rocks, and was surprised when it struck a landmass in the distance. Zooming in, he squinted.

"Hey Aika. One of the stones hit… I think it's called Shrine Island." He could make out the gaping impact crater in the ancient temple complex with ease. "It really tore a hole… probably a big one."

Fina listened intently, looking between the two Blue Rogues who were sharing a smile. "Are you thinking what I am?" Aika's voice was reduced to an expectant whisper.

"You know it. Let's take that moonstone! First thing in the morning!" Vyse smiled enthusiastically, and Fina felt an energetic courage radiate from him. She felt a slight flutter in her stomach as she saw this side of him, but dismissed it as hunger.

Having resolved this, the trio sat in silence, watching the rest of the moonstone shower. It was a short one by the standards of the pirates, but it was still beautiful. As night fell, descending a curtain of stars across the heavens, Vyse's mother walked out of her house, wiping her hands on her apron casually.

"Vyse! Vyse!" He looked over the side of the rail, down to her at the bottom of the ladder to Lookout Isle. "Dinner's up!"

"Alright, mom!" He turned to the girls and nodded. "I don't know about you, Aika, but rescuing pretty girls puts a mighty appetite in me." At this compliment, Fina looked over, cheeks tinged with red. Had he really just said…

Aika snorted. "Alright, Mr. Smooth Talk, let's go eat." Making good progress down the ladder, Vyse slid down like it was two poles by holding the outsides with his hands and gripping tighter or looser to roughly control the fall, while the girls took the more sane step-by-step descent. His mother waited for them, ushering them into the simple log cabin. Dyne was already seated at the table, and nodded to them all.

"We got extra chairs for the two young ladies," She said, pulling them up to the large dining table next to the fireplace. The seating arrangement around the circular table put Vyse between Fina and Aika, with the parents on the other side.

Arranged on each plate were sliced and cooked airfish. The small docile creatures had good taste and were nutritious, and bred in plenty around the region, making them a staple of any Mid Ocean village's diet. Two loaves of fresh bread and a plate of mashed potatoes, obtained from the galley of the _Cygnus_'s loot, sat in the middle. Such delicacies were rare for the frontier. The ubiquitous drink of all Arcadia, loqua, sat in pitchers clearly labeled for their flavor.

"It all looks delicious," Fina said, surveying the food before her. She had not eaten in a long time, as her rumbling stomach could attest.

"Tell me, what kinds of foods do you eat in your homeland?" Dyne asked.

"Dad!" Vyse interjected.

With a chuckle, the older man and leader of the Blue Storm relented. "Sorry. I can't help getting in a parting shot. I'm not one for giving in so easily." This put Fina a little bit ill at ease, but she was reassured by a smile from Vyse that said 'well, what can you do'. She suppressed a small giggle as he played at being the more mature father watching his child misbehave from habit.

"Let us pray to the Moons in thankfulness for this bounty," Vyse's mother suggested, and the four Pirate Isle natives bowed their heads. Looking around in confusion, Fina followed suit a moment later. "Blessed Moons, guardians of the heavens, protectors of Arcadia, today we have taken a great fortune onto ourselves, and are entertaining an honored guest. Look fondly upon our meal, as we give thanks for it. En Luna Eternum, Amen."

Now having prayed over their food, they began to eat. Vyse carved into it like his plate was the plate-mail of a Valuan soldier, Aika and Dyne tried to keep their dignity but also shoveled down the nourishment, while Vyse's mother and Fina nibbled and took gentle bites. All across Pirate Isle, the other families were doing much the same, making a scenic and rural picture of peace that was completely at odds with their occupations.

After diner, Vyse went up to his room and sat himself down on the bed with a sigh. Relaxing, he stared at the ceiling until he slowly began to drift into unconsciousness. As he was in this state, memory began to surface, and soon he saw Aika undressing again. He blushed furiously, as his mind brought to vivid detail her smooth and creamy skin, her already ample assets, her lips-

_Damn these hormones. Damn them to Deep Sky._ Sighing and rolling over to face the wall a few centimeters away, he attempted to banish those thoughts. Of help was that he felt completely confident that if Aika knew about it, she would hit him so hard remembering wouldn't even be an option. Eventually he faded into blackness.


	4. Amongst The Ruins

Chapter Four- Amongst The Ruins

Aika smiled and said, "Hiya, early riser."

Vyse blushed furiously, remembering his 'problem' last night. Noticing this, the pirate girl tilted her head, and said, "Hey, you ok? You look a little bit flushed."

"Yeah, I'm fine," He lied. "Let's go." He turned to his mother, father, and Fina. Everyone was assembled in the living room of his house. Dyne step up first. "Son, I'm proud of your swashbuckling plans. Good luck, and come home soon." He shook hands with his son, and Vyse turned to his mom. She simply embraced him in a hug and smiled, keeping her angst at him going off to danger again deep down inside. Fina bowed to them both and also wished them luck.

"Don't start interrogating her again while we're out, Dad," Cautioned Vyse deadpan, a slight grin cracked his façade. Dyne chuckled and assured him he would never conceive of such a thing.

Setting out across the village, they quickly said 'goodbye' to anyone they passed. Reaching the second small outlet-island that was little more than a chunk of rock floating alongside, they spotted the small boat. It was the _Diligent_, one of two small backup boats Dyne maintained incase, Moons forbid, something befell the _Albatross_. It was a miniature version of it's mothership, without weapons, and constructed mostly of wood with some metal bracing and engine coverings.

"Don't let Vyse take the helm," Landis the Navigator called up to them in a voice of mock casual advice, and waved as they embarked onto the small _Diligent_. Ears burning red, Vyse decided not to hear that comment and assumed the steering wheel of the craft.

Aika sat down at a desk in the narrow bridge of the ship, taking out standard navigational tools and a detailed map of the area obtained from the portly navigator. "Charter our course, Vyse. North northwest, 17 lunits up."

He nodded, taking the throttle and pushing it forward gently. With a steady rumble, the deckplates shivered for moment. The moonstones fed into the engines were tapped, providing the energy to operate the ship. He steered the wheel to the left and pushed forward. Breaking away from the severed anchors tying it to Pirate Isle, the little ship set off.

Into the sky they moved, with no rush, and at a reasonable cruising speed. Clouds rushed overhead and the wind gently ran across the deck. It would prove to be a short journey, as their destination came into sight within moments of leaving the island. The distinctive tower-profile of Shrine Island made it easy to spot, stabbing defiantly into the sky.

Aika walked out onto the deck, perching on the rail and relaxing. Vyse tried to busy himself with steering the _Diligent_, but he had altogether too soon ran out of things to do, and thought he'd better go out to talk with her. Emerging from the pilothouse, he leapt up and sat next to his lifelong friend.

"Hey," She said, looking over at him. Vyse smiled in reply. "This is our first mission without the crew to back us up, you know."

"Yeah," He said. "I haven't really thought about it, but now we're out here alone, with only each other…" He looked down.

"Vyse?"

"Hm?"

"Do you like Fina?" That question had caught him as off guard as if the entire Valuan Armada were to materialize off the bow and begin firing on them. Looking back up at Aika, the teenager felt his cheeks start to burn, too embarrassed to notice the traces of anxiety that tugged at her graceful features.

"I'm not really sure," He said uncertainly. "We've only just met, I mean… but she is very beautiful."

"Really?"

Vyse then noticed something was awry, and commented to that effect. "Aika, is something wrong?"

"I don't know," She admitted. Feeling a whirlwind of emotions, she sighed and tried to clear her head. She and Vyse had known each other forever, she loved him as a brother. Maybe more. The feeling seemed to be mutual, but with the introduction of this girl in strange clothes, she felt… jealousy?

When he had called Fina pretty, had she been bothered by that?

No way. That would imply… _that you liked him_, a part of her told the great truth, _you do like him_. Right now she didn't want to admit it.

Shaking her head, she smiled again. "So I guess we both have no clue." Vyse nodded, and for a while, that would do. For both of them. Maybe later, if they were sure… but that was only later. Now they had a moonstone to retrieve. Shrine Island was growing closer.

It was like all of the other islands in the skies of Arcadia- a hunk of rock that inexplicably floated in that narrow band of breathable atmosphere whose gravity was just right to accommodate humans.

The temple for which that particular island was named was an ancient yet surprisingly in-tact stone complex, with a newly blasted gaping hole in the side and a large lake surrounding it as a mote. Water from this looked like it was flowing into the hole, but from the distance Vyse couldn't be sure. A single narrow masonry bridge led across the water to the ancient front double-doors.

Vyse spun the wheel, bringing the ship in slower and slower and turning to the side. "Akia, ground us to the island." Complying, the girl grabbed a coil of rope with a heavy harpoon-hook on the end, and when it was within throwing distance, she hurled it with all her strength. "Dead hit," He whooped. "Two more." Once three steady anchors had been established, they used a winch to carefully reel themselves in, until the side of their ship bumped against the edge of Shrine Island. "

Hopping over the side, Aika pulled out her boomerang. This time the translucent throwing-arc had been imbued with red moon stones, imparting the properties of flame on it. Vyse drew his pirate cutlasses- one had been enchanted with green magic, the other purple.

"I'm getting an eerie vibe," The flame-haired female said, taking point as they both cautiously advanced across the bridge. "This place hasn't been touched in a hundred thousand years, Vyse!"

"Going to chicken out now, with that treasure right in the temple? Besides, if it's abandoned, that should mean it's perfectly safe." He knew that when he invoked the treasure he would get her cooperation. "Speaking of which…" He pointed to a small stone chest to one side of the door. Going up to it, she tried to open it.

"It's sealed shut," She said. "Let's force it."

Vyse nodded, and moved to bash the chest with his cutlass. The edge of the blade caught in the crack between the lid and box, and he paused. Then he wedged it up and down, eventually forcing it's aged top to swing open. Aika gasped as a dozen crystals glittered brightly. "What are these?" He collected them all up into a bag. "Oh well. We can ask dad when we get back."

They proceeded to the front doors. The imposing stone structures looked to be ten times as resilient as the chest had been. Confused, they searched for any special markings, or triggers. Vyse, exasperated, took a seat on the simple stone tablet three meters from the door.

When he touched it, it began to glow brightly and rotate. Leaping off it in alarm, he watched as the stone shattered, revealing a much more elegantly carved crystal that radiated light. As it turned, so did the entire complex, moving down one layer, as the Shrine appeared like a cake. The door on this level was already half open, and at the approach of either of them, slid fully apart.

Walking through the ancient passage, they emerged in a huge cylindrical room, with spiral wide stone stairs that led down five levels, deep into water, towards the ground level. At the ground level a silver boulder gleamed with light rays, resting in a crater it had made upon entry like the hole in the wall. "There's the moonstone," Vyse said unnecessarily.

"That thing is huge! We'll never be able to swim up with it," Aika said, crossing her arms as she stared at it. _It's also probably worth a prince's fortune._ She also saw the irony- the stone's breaking through of the wall made the thing impossible to retrieve from it's fresh, watery grave.

Unless he could open the doors on lower levels. "Aika, this place appears to be compartmentalized."

"So?"

"So if we open enough doors we can drain the water out, get the moonstone, and get out of here."

Her eyes lit up and she grinned. "Hey, that's a great idea, Vyse! Way to use your head." She pretended not to see the light blush that tinged his cheeks, instead making her way across the steps and down to the next level, which was only inches higher than the waters. He followed rapidly.

"The air's pretty foul," He observed. Obviously after such a long period of being completely sealed, he was surprised it was still breathable. It seemed as though the further they went, the thicker a hazy fog descended, reducing visibility.

The stairs further down were blocked by water, but a door to the left slid open at their approach. After a short hallway, they opened the second door, which revealed open sky. Foul air rushed out and clean oxygen moved to replace it with haste.

By traversing a narrow walkway, they skirted the outside edge of the temple, trying to ignore the fact that a major misstep to their right would send them plunging into Deep Sky, with no hope of rescue before they were crushed. A pathway led them to another walkway, this time wider, holding position five meters from the wall. They began on this path, and up ahead appeared a monster.

It could only be described as a gigantic floating fish, with bright-orange scales and obviously malicious intentions. It began to beat it's fin-wings, hovering over to them. Both of the Blue Rogues got ready, weapons at an attack stance.

"I guess this place isn't abandoned." The fish lunged for them just as Vyse finished that sentence. The attack was rather slow, therefore both of them easily dodged. They both moved in behind it, slicing into it's scales and tail. Crying out in agony, it flailed it's body, slapping Aika.

The girl fell backwards, toppling to the ground. She rolled to absorb the fall and stood, still ready for more. Vyse glanced to her, then growled. "Time to make sushi." His weapons began to glow a powerful blue and he charged for the fish creature. "Cutlass Fury!" Bellowed the Pirate, delivering a half dozen strikes that caused explosions throughout the enemy's body. The final attack stabbed through it's center mass, and it's insides caught the last explosion. It died instantly, falling to the ground with a wet and slightly sickening slap.

"That wasn't so hard," Aika said, brushing herself off. She looked at her side where she had fallen, pulling up her yellow tight dress slightly. "Nothing but a bruise." He replaced her clothing and grabbed her throwing-arc again.

Vyse waited at a ladder, which took them a level down. They traversed around the entire shrine again, but did not encounter any more creatures. As they landed on the bottom level, Aika spotted the only door on the side of the temple at this height.

She was about to walk into it when Vyse stopped her. "Water, remember?" When she nodded embarrassedly, they both backed up to the side of the door. Taking the greatest care, he put out his hand. As soon as he heard the telltale whoosh of the door he snapped back his hand and took cover. This proved to be quite wise, for a solid wall of water flowed outwards, shaking the floor to the point where they had to sit down. All the liquid poured over the side, into Deep Sky. This massive plume eventually died down, and stopped.

Now the entire inner temple had been drained, and the moonstone was theirs for the taking. They dashed in, taking all of the ancient scenic temple in from the ground up. A pile of rubble laid scattered around. Neither of them paid any attention to that, only the glowing moonstone almost in the center of the amphitheatre. Vyse went right up to it, running his hand over it's nearly spherical surface. It still felt warm.

Aika gasped, and he spun around. The debris was moving. Gathering together as if drawn by some force, it formed a gigantic stone figure, about ten feet tall and with a humanoid shape, besides it's lack of a head area. A crystalline area at the front of it began to glow.

"What is-" Before she finished the sentence, she realized the stone machination's sinister intent, diving to the stone floor a fraction of a second before a power laser beam discharged. The red light-wave slammed into the far wall, melting a portion of it and shaking the ground. "Holy crap!"

Vyse remembered another fighting technique that his father had taught him. _"Vyse, if you cut the air quick enough, you can generate a wind strike and damage a foe without engaging them in close combat. Nobody expects that with a blade." _He attacked on instinct, using his blades in a horizontal cut that sent an arc of wind at their assailant. The wind-strike bounced harmlessly off it's sturdy stone arm, and he frowned. This was going to be difficult.

Now slightly annoyed, the stone guardian slowly turned to face him. This was going to be very difficult. Red power began accumulating again in it's central eye, which gave Vyse an idea.

"Moons, Give Me Strength!" Using the spell Weevil that he had learned from Akia, he concentrated a ball of super-dense water in his hands, floating inches from his fingers. Using pure willpower, he propelled it forward, just as the laser discharged. Struck enough to recoil slightly, the beam went wide, slicing into a wall above and sending rocks tumbling to the ground below.

Aika had been maneuvering, and was now behind the golem. "I've had just about enough of you! TAKE THIS!" 'This' was a powerful blow with the boomerang to the back, which again caused the enemy to stumble for a single moment. "Vyse! Center eye!"

He snap-shot a second water sphere. It hit dead center, cracking the crystalline surface into a spider web, before it shattered outwards. The guardian jerked and shivered, before falling apart. Each piece of the construct clattered to the ground, returning to it's original state and causing Vyse to sigh. "Now we know why it's abandoned."

"Where did you learn to do that thing with the water ball?" She asked, helping Vyse grab the large moonstone and slowly begin to heft it out of the crater. It was very heavy.

"I thought of it on the spot. If that sphere had lost containment, I would probably have drowned." Aika giggled slightly despite her physical exertions. That was her Vyse… wait, she thought. When did he become hers? This line of thought would lead to other things, things she had told herself not to consider for now. _Have to get this stone moved…_

0-0

He stared out at the perfectly clear skies with a slight disgust for the pleasant weather, and had to remind himself that it was actually good flying weather, reducing the time he was out in this annoying hinterland region. The thundering of his ship around him reinforced his own assertion of his power.

Lord Galcian, right hand of Empress Teodora and therefore the highest military commander in the Valuan Armed Forces, was a tall and intimidating man. A sinister face with burning eyes and slightly graying hair told of much experience, probably of a martial sort. His expansive black cloak with red trim only served to make him appear larger and more menacing. This man's mind was as black as his cloak, constantly thinking of ways to increase the pain and suffering of his enemies.

"My Lord." His attention shifted to his vice admiral, standing next to him suddenly. The boy had white hair that was cut sharply and came down around his beautiful face. His voice was low, and full of respect for his superior. He also wore a black uniform, although this one conformed well to his lithe figure. If it were not for his eyes he could be considered an exceptionally attractive man.

"Ramirez. Have we sighted the island?"

"Yes. Pirate Isle has just been spotted by observers on the Crow's Nest. We will be there soon."

"Excellent. We've waited far too long to discipline this rabble, and the girl will soon be ours."

_Fina_… Ramirez paused for an imperceptible beat before nodding. "Yes, Lord Galcian."

Dozens of Valuan battle cruisers, along with Galcien's own flagship, dotted the sky with their grey hulls and massive rotating fan-engines. They descended towards the pastoral island-village known as Pirate Isle.

The lookout was doing his morning stretches, groaning as he flexed out. "Man, it sure is a beautiful day. Not a cloud in all Middle Sky, I'd bet…" As he arched his back, he noticed something on the horizon. "What the hell…" Sitting up, he took out an observation glass and magnified the dots. They grew into Valuan warships. "I thought they'd never find us here…" He whispered faintly, turning and cupping his hands to his mouth.

"Captain! We have an emergency! It's the Valuan Armada!"

0-0

After ten minutes of truly gruesome manual labor, the two air pirates had managed to heft the boulder out of the temple complex and onto the deck of the _Diligent_. Vyse collapsed onto the grass of Shrine Island's edge and gasped. "By the Moons… this wasn't worth it."

Aika frowned. "It was hardly worth it." The girl really loved treasure-hunting, but even her found the task stressful. She climbed aboard the ship and laid upon the deck. As she watched, she spotted an object in the sky. Squinting at the ship, she failed to identify it. Oh, well. Probably just a merchant ship.

Vyse took a little time to collect himself, then hopped aboard and went into the pilothouse, taking the wheel. "Let's get back home. I've had all the ancient relics I can stomach for a day." Spinning the control surface, he brought the small runabout into a 180-turn. Aika detached the anchors holding the ship to the isle, reeling in the rope in order to conserve it. In the skies, having enough ropes meant life or death.

He kicked in the engines, and they started off, away from Shrine Island. It took slightly longer on the return trip, as they had taken on some additional weight from the loot and the moonstone.

Still, in almost no time, they approached home. Vyse felt uneasy, and when he zoomed in to the island he gasped. The village had dozens of huge craters, the ground was smoldering, and many buildings including his house were wrecked. The entire place looked like it had been bombed to smithereens. Neither of them could do anything but stare helplessly at the smoking ruin of their home, and only by muscle memory did Vyse bring the _Diligent_ in to dock at the small island connected with the larger main one.

Leaving the ship unmoored but counting on the extra weight to hold it down, they leapt out of the boat and rushed down. A closer inspection only showed the amount of the damage- the windmill for which Dyne had gotten the cover-name's idea for was completely totaled, and it was unlikely it would be repaired anytime soon. No one was in the buildings, but as they ran to the central courtyard, a man emerged from the secret entrance to the underground base.

Vyse recognized the man as the Navigator of the _Albatross_, Landis. "Landis, what happened here? The entire village has nearly been destroyed!"

"It was the Valuans," He replied, goggles askew on his ashen face. He seemed to be favoring one leg, because he was. The other one had nearly been shredded by a stray cannonball. "They shelled the island for a few minutes, then demanded our surrender. We didn't even have time to get the ship out for a battle."

"Dad wouldn't go out without a fight," Vyse said angrily.

"He knew they would kill the women and the children if he didn't… there wasn't any hope. The crew surrendered, but I went into hiding." He sighed. "I'm a damn coward… everyone else got taken but I saved my own skin. Got to watch as they scuttled the _Albatross_. So many years, up in smoke…"

"Hey, Landis, relax. Your specialty is on the ship, anyway," Aika said halfheartedly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "No one blames you."

"No one is _left_ to blame me," He said piercingly. "Well, they left the civilians, but they're down below. I guess they were in a… merciful mood today. I stayed up on the surface, to tell you the story when you got back. Figured I ought to be of some use."

"Let's get down and see mom right away." They worked their way down into base, headed for the Captain's office. They reassured the women and children that they passed, who all looked glad for their return. Vyse opened the door and got caught in his mother's enthusiastic hug.

"Oh, I thought they had intercepted you as well," She said quietly. "I'm so glad you're here. They took all the men, and Fina."

"They took Fina?" Aika asked, surprised.

"That Alfonso clown _was_ trying to kidnap her when we kicked his ass back to Valua," Vyse said in an obvious manner. He crossed his arms. "Well, there's only one thing for it, then. We've got to go and rescue them all from Valua."

"Rescue? From _Valua_? The fortress that a hundred Nasr warships couldn't dent?" Vyse was brave, but this was pushing it somewhat.

His mother sighed. "I knew you were going to say that, and it's probably the only way for Dyne and the boys to get free of being executed. We are pirates, after all. Wait, though, until the morning. You both look like you need some rest, and we can refit the _Diligent_ for the trip with Landis's help."

Vyse tossed around the idea for a few moments. The attack had spiked his adrenaline, but he was exhausted from the raid on Shrine Island. "Alright. We'll get some sleep, something to eat. Dad always used to tell me to 'hurry up and wait'."

0-0

Dawn broke over the devastated Pirate Isle. All the women and children had turned out to the wrecked surface, to cheer on their last and best hope. Vyse and Aika waved goodbye one last time, climbing the ramp to the outlet island-dock. _Diligent_ waited, engines ready to go. Landis said, "Good luck, you two. I hope that when you see Dyne, you'll tell him how sorry I am. If he's still alive."

"Hey, why don't you come with us?" Vyse asked, pausing. "We could use your help navigating, and it might be a welcome change of pace."

"I don't know. What use could I possibly be?"

"Didn't we hire you as a navigator? C'mon, this is your chance to prove yourself," He encouraged quietly, trying to tune out the cheering that drifted over him.

"Well…"

Aika cupped her hands. "Pleeeease?" She stretched out that poor word until Vyse thought it should surely break, but the only result was a defeated smile from the portly man, who nodded silently and followed them onboard.

"Everyone ready?" Both of his pirate comrades nodded, so Vyse turned the ship, and said, "Full sail for Valua! Wait up, Dad, here we come!"

0-0

Dyne sighed. The Valuans were not known for their gentle treatment of prisoners, so he was not truly surprised by the horrible condition of their cells. Packed into four-person 10 meter cells, all the Blue Rogues were forced to curl up in order to obtain a small amount of breathing room. The walls and floor were damp, dark, and cold, and a gently dripping noise reminded him that one enemy guard had said that this prison was directly under the sewer systems. So it was poisoned filth that laid around with his men.

_Son…_ The proud father harbored absolutely no delusions- Vyse and Aika, when they discovered the smoking ruins of their home, would set out as quickly as practicable to Valua in an insane rescue mission. He prayed to the Moons to give them the slimmest of chances to actually succeed. _Good luck._

The door at the far side of the aisle opened, and many prisoners peered out to see. Four Valuan soldiers with glimmering golden armor wielded giant lances enchanted with the power of the Yellow Moon. They walked in perfect rank, in front of Fina, and another four prodded her forward. Dyne looked up, and his eyes locked with the foreign girl for a fraction of a second, then she looked forward again.

The honor guards took her further, through winding labyrinthine prisons, and up to a train station. She seemed reluctant to board the gigantic box-like metal monstrosity that was the main car, but the huge guards quickly convinced her to be a lot more enthusiastic about it.

She sighed, sitting down and strapping in with a safety belt. All the guards stood, holding on to handrails as the train began to accelerate. Shivering, it used electrical current to push itself along a metal track that hung suspended across the entire gigantic city of Valua.

Occasionally glancing out a window, she saw pitch-black skies that belied the city's mood, which was nestled in the huge floating continent of the same name. Bands of light denoted the electrical city, although to one side of the palace that was in the center it was much brighter, the other side dimly lit if at all.

They arrived at the huge capitol, and she was taken across many hallways, up an enormous marble staircase, and through gold-paneled double-doors into the Throne Room. Constructed of the finest materials in all of Valua, rich red carpeting and drapes bracketed the nobles and honor guards that filled the room.

Seated atop a great throne, in gaudy purple dress and beret, the Empress Of Valua glowered at the new arrival. The old woman's lines of age and stress seemed to only enhance her sinister appearance, and she wielded her royal scepter like she intended to harm somebody with it. Next to this, a considerably smaller throne played host to the handsome, blonde, light-skinned Prince Enrique, heir to the empire. His expression was one of concern.

"So," Teodora's voice rang out across the expansive royal throne room. "This is the Silvite Girl."

0-0

The _Diligent_ plotted a course north, occasionally correcting it's heading to avoid the powerful sky rifts, which were solid walls of wind that destroyed ships that didn't have enough power.

Even moving to avoid charted storm-fronts, fate had apparently abandoned them. A thick fog began to develop, requiring much more vigilance as the navigator constantly reassigned values and had to make calculations for speed and drift in his own head with little help from sighting instruments. Luckily Landis was up to the task, performing with a skill that left no doubt why Dyne had hired him.

Until they almost hit an island. The boat shivered to it's seams and Vyse dove to port, trying to put some distance away from the landmass. When that landmass began to move, he gasped and ran out onto the deck. "Aika! That's not an island- it's moving! That's alive!"

"What is that thing?!" She asked, yelling to be heard over the suddenly rushing winds.

"I think I know," Vyse replied, putting up one arm to shield himself from the gusts. "That's an Arcwale!"

"What should we do?" Before Landis could get an answer, the Arcwale turned around, taking aim for their boat. "Oh crap!"

A purple beam hit the ship, shaking it apart, and sending Vyse into blackness.


	5. Leadership

Chapter Five- Leadership

Vyse opened his eyes, blinking slowly with an agonized groan. "Ouch…" he mumbled, before he realized that Aika's beautiful face was hovering very close to his own. She smiled, relieved that he had finally awoken, and then did something so unprecedented that he flushed red and froze in surprise.

She kissed him.

It wasn't a tangling, passionate affair like he had dreamed of in particularly interesting nighttime mental adventures, but a light and delicate meeting of lips for a half second. Then she realized what she was doing and pulled away, her own cheeks appearing to be enchanted by Red moonstones as well.

However awkward and unexpected this action was, Vyse didn't find it unpleasant at all, and was almost regretful it was such a minor seeming thing… _no, not now… say, what happened?_

"I hate to interrupt the lovey-dovey crap, but you'd better be hauling your ass up finally, boy." That was not Landis. He could tell both by the gruffer and huskier tone and the fact that Landis never talked in such an offensive manner, even when angered. Confused, he looked around. He was on a much wider wooden deck, and skies were now remarkably clear. Eight black cannons poked out the sides of the ship, four from each side. This was not the _Diligent_, either.

Then he laid eyes on the old man. He was a portly, bulky fellow with snow-white whiskers and hair tied in a short and functional ponytail. His face was tough and aged, with lines of stress and injury hardening it into a leather mask, and a black eyepatch over one eye. The most striking feature of this man dressed in fisherman's clothing was his massive artificial arm, made of rusted steel plating that had used to be platinum-silver colored, and in small patches was still a rudimentary shade of grey, although it was predominantly dull-red now. Everything about him exuded age and power.

"I was worried that you were going to end up like Landis…" When Aika trailed off Vyse looked over. Laying on the deck, unconscious, was the pirate navigator, a large and hasty bandage wrapped around his chest.

"Debris from your ship being torn apart must have ripped into him, he was a bloody mess before I would wrap him… I'm not sure he has enough blood left, and I don't know his type either." The intimidating fisherman's rough voice carried traces of emotions like care and worry mingled in the angered growl. He turned back to glower at the two pirates that were more or less left standing. "More debris from that pitiful flying _crate_ slammed into the port sails, and I also had to do some quick repairs to keep us floating with the extra weight of you three."

"What happened?" Whimpered Vyse. Although he had been fully awakened by Aika's accidental display of affection, he didn't remember the outcome of their 'fight' with the Arcwale. _More like it blew us to shit, apparently._

"You are abundantly lucky I was hunting that thing anyway, boy. I decided I couldn't just let all of you fall into Deep Sky." So he possessed the framework of basic human decency. It was a start, in Aika's eyes.

"Wait, so you saved us?" Vyse looked at this hostile old amputee a little better now.

"Aye," Replied he in a tone that implied that he was coming to regret that action.

"Hey, thanks!" He sprang to his feet with a smile on his face. Maybe if he adapted his usual dynamic, positive attitude, the old man would mellow a little to him. After all, he did save their lives, which meant he had to be good on the inside.

"…thanks?" The fisherman didn't know weither to be surprised at his audacity or angry. He went with his usual course- angry. "Thanks, you say, after nearly sinking me and ruining my shot at Rhaknam?! _Thanks_?!" Vyse was beginning to be intimidated by this sudden display of anger when the man reared back and slammed his artificial fist into his gut. The Blue Rogue flew backwards, toppling onto the deck with a hard thud next to Aika again.

"Hey!" Aika said, standing up indignantly. "What in Hell are you doing, you crusty… err, rusty… old man?! Vyse didn't do anything wrong and you just up and plaster him!"

He would not be deterred. "Nothing wrong?! Listen close here, lass- his shitty piloting blocked my perfect shot at the Arcwale. I've been hunting him for years, and here I come for my big chance to take him out… and some punk-ass fool with a hussy and a morbidly obese pirate come along! I shoulda shot anyway, I'm pretty sure my cannons would have gone through your little runabout and into Rhaknam."

Vyse looked up from his kneeling posture as he gripped his tormented stomach. "I'm really sorry," He admitted quietly, "That we interfered with your shots… really, we didn't mean any harm. We barely spotted it before we ran into it."

With all that fog, he believed the boy, and nodded. "Alright, so you accidentally screwed my lifelong quest? Excellent going, then." He leaned in closer to both of the young pirates, negativity of all forms bursting forth from his single good eye. "Sorry or not, I hope you both know that this ain't a passenger liner. You'll need to work to earn your right to fly!"

"But we just-" The complaint was stillborn in Aika's lungs as the captain of the ship interfered.

"If you don't like it, take a jump overboard. Actually you'd be doing me a favor- I gotta keep the load as light as possible."

"Aye, Captain," Replied Vyse, managing a grin through his pain. "We can work."

0-0

Fina began to assess each of the people in the room, and the first and most obvious place to look was the Empress herself. If she had just known her, and no one else on all of Arcadia, then it was easy to see why the Elders reached their woebegone conclusions on these people. She was everything expected of a tyrant and a bad monarch- arrogant, filled to the brim with delusions and hubris, and not by a long shot the most intelligent or independent person.

Prince Enrique, heir to the Valuan legacy, was the next one to get her attention. He looked at her with concern, for she was now bound and shackled and two of the honor guards had not stepped off, but waited with lances drawn to slaughter her on command, or if she made a wrong movement. It was truly difficult to imagine he had come from her, because the warmth and honor he radiated were all too real, and enhanced his regal face. He was a credit to all Valua.

His eyes were the most fascinating part of him. A stormy blue, they communicated to her that this was a person that was concerned for _you_. Here was a leader that cared, and would do all in his power to work for his people. Frankly this seemed out of place in a Valuan royal court, Fina decided with a lot more than her usual temerity.

Enrique's gaze became locked with Fina's. His features were so soft and delicate, not even Ramirez had looked that way. If she was back home with him he would have fit in perfectly as a Silvite. Tinged with a slight blush he looked down eventually. Apparently he was shy to some degree, as well.

In the silence as everyone sized her up, she pretended to be struck speechless, but took her final thoughts about Lord Galcian, the supreme Valuan military commander that reported directly to Teodora. Easily the tallest man in the room, his sinister and cold appearance could only make her shudder. His eyes contrasted his Enrique's in a most drastic way- the Prince's orbs showed only compassion and respect, his were voids of hatred that calculated how much pain he could inflict upon you, and what was the most efficient way of doing so.

"Excellent work finding her, Galcian. You have served me flawlessly, yet again." The satisfied screed of the Valuan Empress attracted her attention back to the throne. Although his kneeling position made it impossible to see all of his face, Fina could still see that this compliment had no effect on his demeanor. Always cold. Always dark. "She is an interesting specimen, I should say. And so should Enrique." She didn't miss the staring contest, and Fina felt sympathetic for Enrique as the nobles laughed at his expense until she held up an aged hand to silence them.

She had been staring at the floor for a long time now, or at least managed to appear that way to Teodora, who said, "Look up at me, girl. Tell me if you know my name."

Fina did as she was told, at least for now. She snapped her head up, glaring at the Empress with as much ire as she could muster from her timid mental framework. It wasn't much, but she expressed her anger all the same. It would be enough. "You are Empress Teodora the First." She nodded her head towards the Prince. "You are Prince Enrique, heir to the Valuan throne. Such as it is."

Her comment set Enrique into a startled and silent chuckle as he agreed with her cunning comment, but Teodora appeared not to notice the last four words. She sneered down condescendingly to Fina. "Well done. It appears as though the wisdom of the Silver Civilization was not all lost on you."

"We have been studying you for years," She retorted without missing a beat, careful to project all the defiance she could muster towards the tyrannical shrew mere meters from her, careless of her own peril.

"Then I take it you know why I have spared absolutely no expense to capture you and bring you to me?" Teodora continued, looking at Fina as though she was something a regular person might scrape off their shoe after running through the Lower City for a few days. She shook her head, and having the intellectual advantage seemed to appease her further, for she continued freely, "We require your aid. We're going to crush the world and remold it to serve the Valuan Empire!"

"Mother…" Enrique finally spoke up, his tone slightly subdued, "Is this really necessary?"

"Silence, Enrique!" She exploded impatiently, addressing him as thought he was a five-year-old child that had just bitten a neighbor. "I am doing this for you, you know. I'm building this Empire and making it stronger for you to rule over. The least you could do is at least pretend to pay attention." Having now sated her need to put her son back into his deeply diminished place, she turned on Fina again. "Now. I would like you to give us some information."

She turned to a table full of papers and scrolls next to Fina. "That table contains all information that our imperial forces could obtain. I know that there are six Moon Crystals scattered across the world. I know they control ancient and powerful weapons… your people called them Gigas." Fina gasped and looked up in alarm, so she knew that she was on the right track. With malicious satisfaction, she demanded, "Tell me more about these creatures, these Gigas."

Fina looked down a moment. "I can tell you that nobody should use them."

"Irrelevant!" She screeched. "I did not _ask_ your opinion on _if_ we should use them, fool girl. I am telling you we _are_ going to use them."

"But you can't!" She protested, growing desperate. "You don't understand the power of these Gigas! The destruction they could wreak is beyond catastrophic!" She looked up, beautiful eyes wide.

"Oh, I do know." Teodora chuckled madly. "That is why Valua _must_ have them."

"No! You don't!" Fina grew more and more alarmed at the prospect of history repeating itself. "Each Gigas is… twice the size of this palace. The weakest could destroy a hundred of your gunboats with a single attack! If any single one got out of hand, it could obliterate entire continents!" She had studied extensively about each of their weapons, as it was an integral part of her mission. Teodora seemed to only get hungrier to wield such destructive force, and also liked seeing the girl become frenzied. "There is no way to stop a Gigas, but to use another Gigas! You lack the technology!"

"Most interesting." Teodora chuckled. "Then you will help us retrieve the Crystals, hm?"

Maybe Fina's blood was getting hotter from hanging around Vyse and Fina. Their swashbuckling adventuresome natures and tempers certainly encouraged her to be more emotional, in contrast with her calm and controlled upbringing on the Silver Moons at the hands of the Elders. She was getting angry at the sheer hubris of this monarch, and launched into a crazed tirade. "Listen to me! The Gigas destroyed the world! All civilizations, all six advanced societies, razed! Almost no one survived! And it was power-hungry fools like _you_ who brought down damnation upon Arcadia in the first place!"

The entire room seemed to freeze. The nobles and guards shared a mutual shock and awe that this girl had the bravery to yell and insult the Empress. Galcian watched over impassively. Enrique silently agreed but felt dread for this brave and pretty girl's fate. It took Teodora's mind several seconds to comprehend that this commoner dared to insult her.

Then it came. Her wits returning, the monarch quivered with rage. She exploded. "_WHAT_ did you say?! How _dare_ you insult me! In my own palace! Off with her head! Off with her head! Now!"

"No, wait, please listen…" Fina began desperately, but was cut off.

"CUT HER DOWN, GUARDS!" The two honor guards took a step back and readied their lances. Yellow lighting crackled from their tips and Fina swallowed hard.

Suddenly, Enrique stepped forward and pushed a nobleman aside, leaping to put himself between the guards and his mother and Fina. He held out his arms wide, acting as a hasty human shield. "Wait!" He implored. "Mother, you can't just kill her! She has committed no crime!" The guards, not wishing to find out the punishment for shooting the Prince of Valua, stood down on instinct.

"No crime?!" Parroted Teodora furiously, waving her monarch's staff in such a manner that made two Dukes standing beside the throne take a step back to protect themselves. "How can you protect that girl like that, Enrique? After she gave me such insult!"

"Your Majesty," Galcian finally spoke up, and his tone chilled Fina to the bone. "I believe it would be prudent to keep her alive. Leave her in my care- perhaps I can convince her to see the right of it." The Silvite would rather face the guards.

She was still grateful, so as Teodora calmed down a little to ponder the prospects of horrible torture versus instant death, she gripped his shoulder and whispered, _"Thank you."_

"_You're welcome,"_ Enrique said out the corner of his mouth in reply, his cheeks flushing slightly at the proximity of the girl. _She's pressing against my back, I can feel her breasts. They're pretty big…_ although he was royalty, he was still a teenager, and couldn't help noticing. Luckily he gave no indication of this, it was the last thing he needed right now. Fina innocently continued to cling to the only shred of safety in the Valuan Throne Room, unaware of her effect on him.

Teodora did see a girl clinging to his son, and snapped, "Enrique! Get away from her!" The prince complied with this command, turning to flash a reassuring smile before assuming his throne again. "Hm.. Galcian is right, as usual. Those pirates that we captured you with have been found guilty, and are scheduled to be executed." Fina gasped. "Three days from now, at exactly twelve of the clock, they will be put down in the Coliseum for all to see, as an example of our might."

"Mother," Enrique started again.

"Don't give me that Death Penalty speech yet again, Enrique," Teodora interjected. "I am exasperated of it. It is a necessary part of our justice system, to punish villains. Death will deter even the most hardened Air Pirate to bend to our will. As for you, little girl, you're going to get a front-row seat to watch their downfall." Yet again she cackled from the glee at the sight of Fina's sad features. How she would look after watching her friends slaughtered was only for her imagination. "You should be honored."

Fina was about to inform her just how honored she felt at this moment, but decided that throwing her life away at this point would benefit no one. Maybe _Vyse could rescue us, I just have to stay breathing, and believe._ He was one of the only people on this world that she put faith in. _And Aika, too. She won't stay down for long._

"Mother!" Enrique said for a third time, and this time managed to get out his protest. "You can't do this!"

Wrong thing to say. Turning a fratricidal glare upon her son, she proclaimed, "I can _do_ whatever I want. I am the Empress Of Valua, I am most powerful person on Arcadia!" Then Teodora glared at Fina. "Guards! Take her to her new… 'quarters'. At once! And remember girl, I want you on time! And get something more decent to wear than that abomination of oddities you currently don! And get cleaned up!" She was still shouting orders that steamrolled over Fina's new confidence in herself as she vanished from sight, basically dragged by the honor guards.

Enrique sighed, downtrodden. _Sorry, Fina_.

0-0

In no time, the old fisherman had put the two conscious Blue Rogues to work onboard his ship. It was an older model of craft that Vyse recognized from his old identification chart that he still kept with him. It was a Weldinghem A-6 Light Frigate, a relatively small but agile craft that was practically a relic. This one appeared to be in good shape, despite it's age. It stank of fish, especially below decks.

Thus it seemed more and more like the Captain hated him but not as much Aika, for she was swabbing the decks in the nice, fresh open air while he was hauling cargo in the belly of the cruiser. However, he was careful not to openly complain. If he had gotten punched for expressing gratitude, appearing ungrateful might get him shot.

"Humph." _Speak of the devil._ Vyse looked up from the crate he was pushing, to see the Captain. "Looks like you've got more than just lubber on your bones, boy." _A compliment?_

"Heh," Vyse said, trying to play if off coolly and leaning against the crate, "My dad had me doing grunt-work around the home all the time. Like I said, I can work."

"Hm." His usual comment. "You have the manner and dress of an Air Pirate. What would two air pirates be doing this far out? And on such a crappy ship?" The _Diligent_ was by no means crappy, in fact a well-maintained and modern boat, but compared to this ship, it did not size up favorably. "Plus, that craft didn't have no cannons. That's strange enough on a pirate ship." _Good point._

Vyse looked away, crossing his arms. He evasively replied, "We have our reasons." After a moment's pause, he added, "Sir, we might be in no position to bother you for it… but we need passage to Valua."

"Valua, hm?" The captain cocked an eyebrow and crossed his own arms. A pirate wanting to go into the metaphorical scorfly's nest, in an unarmed boat, traveling without much of a crew. This was starting to get interesting enough to take notice of. "Explain."

The air pirate sighed, hoisting himself up to perch on his charge and beginning to speak. "It was a raid like any other, you see. Granted, it was a Valuan flagship, but it was alone and we managed to jam their radar on our approach…"

0-0

Fina's room was little better than the jails she had seen the condemned Dyne and his crew in. It was a metallic cell thirty meters to a side with a single spartan bed. The walls had encrusted with grime and turned them nearly black. A single tiny barred window afforded a view of Upper City's lights, but only served to remind her of the beauty of such light that she was not afforded, the cell being in almost total darkness.

On her bed, laid some clothing that Teodora no doubt would find acceptable. A dress that was touted as 'modest' on the tag, but when Fina stripped down to put it on, she found it cut in the waist and hips, and showed a lot of cleavage. It was a royal purple color with flecks of cool blue, and the crest of the Valuan royal family on the left shoulder. She sighed and removed her silver veil as well, replacing it with a beret that was similar of design to Prince Enrique's.

The Valuans were going to kill her new family, and when Vyse and Fina tried to rescue them all they probably would be killed as well. Teodora was going to use the Gigas, and millions around the world were going to die. She had failed. Despite her earlier pledge to positive thoughts, she found herself unable to control the flood of tears that washed out of her as she curled up on the bed.

A knocking on the room's door made her look up and quickly brush her watering eyes. "What now?" She said, her voice trembling even if the words were defiant.

"Prince Enrique sends his sincerest regrets," The servant said, letting himself in. He turned to the two soldiers that escorted him. "Wait here." Then he walked into the room, carrying a plate of food. "His Majesty predicted that you would not find the penal sector's food appetizing enough for a guest of the royalty, and I quite agree." He winked and set it down on a small dresser next to the bed. "Therefore a gift from him to you."

"Th-thank you," She replied, smiling slightly. "Tell the Prince that he's the only person in this Empire worth their titles. No offense to you."

"None taken," The servant replied, bowing and gliding smoothly out of the room, as if never there. "Come," He ordered the soldiers, who fell into step behind him after closing and locking her door again.

0-0

"… so that's it, the whole story of how we ended up here." Vyse's expression had slid from pensive to pleading as his tale continued on, and now he looked at the old man. "And that's why we have to get to Valua, and fast. Every day counts… but we can't go there without a ship."

The fisherman thought for several moments, then turned and began to climb up the stairs. "Get back to work," He commanded. "Let me know when you've finished with that." With that, he vanished up the stairs and closed the door behind him, leaving him with only the faint hum of the deck and the strong odor of fish yet again.

He shook his head and sighed. "Damn. I spill my guts, he says not a word, except 'get back to work'. What is this guy's deal… we don't have time for this!" He felt more urgent knowing that they would waste an unknown number of precious time, and each second doomed his father and the crew further. However, raging against the implacable never did anyone any good. "But I guess we don't have a choice. Dad always used to say, 'Don't curse the darkness, light a candle'." He shrugged his shoulders and got back to the manual labor.

Minutes later, he had the last box secured in the main cargo hold. "Yeesh," he gasped, taking a moment to sit. "Wait, gotta go tell him and ask again…" With a monumental effort, he stood up and ascended the stairs to the bridge. He leaned on the railing and continued once the man turned to look at him, "The crates… are secured… sir."

"Very good, boy." He turned to the flight controls and the front viewport again. "Now get up here and take the con."

Vyse looked up, surprised. "What?"

"From what I heard and that chart you were gazing at when you were slacking and thought I wasn't looking…" The boy sweat dropped, "You're a pretty good sailor. Let's see your skills, then." Sighing with relief, Vyse walked up to the helm and assumed the wheel. "but," Interjected the old man in a threatening tone, "If you're all talk, you'll be moving shit for the entire flight. Clear?"

"Crystal," Confirmed Vyse confidently, flashing a grin that had no effect on the grizzled veteran. "By the way, what's the name of this ship?" A flash appeared in his brain. "Oh, and your name too, sir!"

"This ship is the _Little Jack_. And I am Drachma, don't you forget that cause I'm not telling you again."

"What's our course?"

"Sailor's Island, 63 leagues away. I turned us South Southwest to test you, so align our course and get your ass in gear." Vyse nodded, spinning the wheel. The ship responded promptly, the rudders shifting the _Little Jack_ until the navigator's compass to his right displayed a solid red N in the center. Then he shifted to the throttle, pushing it forward steadily. Rumbling, the engines fired up and increased their output, and the speed of the ship increased with it. Drachma nodded approvingly at his professional handling of the helm, watching him closely. "Good job. Looks like you're for real. Ever flown a ship this big, or just pipsqueaks?"

Vyse winced. Drachma seemed to have a personal vendetta against the destroyed _Diligent_. _Must be because it almost sunk us and ruined his shot at achieving his life's dream_, He thought wryly. "I used to take the helm of the _Albatross_ a lot, sir."

"_Albatross_? That's Dyne's ship, right? Blue Storm?"

"Yeah. I'm his son." He grinned proudly and turned to look over at him, working the controls without even needing to see them. "Why, did you know Dad?" Dyne had never mentioned the name 'Drachma' to Vyse or anyone while he was in earshot, of that the pirate's son was sure.

"Only by name, not personally. I'm an armed merchantman, so it's surprising that he never tried to raid me. Lucky for you all, too." Vyse agreed with this. At the end of that conversation, Drachma plodded off eventually with a simple, "Get me when we arrive at the isle."

Vyse sighed, alone with his thoughts of the whole day's events as he navigated between smaller landmasses, abandoned chunks of rock that dotted Arcadia's skies. Just for a little fun he skirted low to the islands, smirking each time he nearly wrecked the ship.

A glint caught his eye, and he slowed down the ship, leaning over with his skyglass eyepatch to magnify his view. It was a pile of materials, including a sheet of metal that was gleaming in the mid-day sun. A sign was over it. Vyse carefully read the words that were carved into the weathered wooden board: "Here Lies An Unknown Pirate."

Instantly he recognized it from it's popular myth, and grinned slightly. Pirates' Grave was one of the many special Discoveries that were littered throughout the entire world- places of interest and landmarks that the influential Sailor's Guild had put out bounties on. The first person to report a Discovery to a chapter of the Guild was allowed to collect the money. It would certainly aid them in their mission, and he jotted down the map coordinates of the discovery on a scroll, pocketing it next to his chart.

Having no more reason to tarry, he throttled up again and set out to the sky. Minutes of travel yielded nothing to do, but eventually Aika emerged from the stairs onto the bridge. Sneaking up on Vyse as he was submerged in his thoughts, he hugged him from behind. This alarmed him, and he flailed and fell.

Aika giggled, and got to her feet easily. "You know, when you actually start using that head of yours, it's real easy to surprise you."

Vyse frowned. "Yeah, yeah. How's Landis doing?"

"He just regained consciousness," She replied. "He seemed to be healing well, but still can't move much." The good news seemed to lift their spirits more, and she said, "You know, even though that old man acts tough, I can tell he cares. Otherwise we could have let us fall into Deep Sky."

"His name is Drachma," Appended Vyse idly, assuming the helm again and making sure their course was steady. It was. "And this ship is called the _Little Jack_."

"_Little Jack_?" Aika crinkled her nose. "Kind of an odd name for a fishing cruiser."

"That's what I thought too. But it's a lot better than walking to Valua."


	6. Transportation

Chapter Six- Transportation

"Sailor's Island sighted, 2:23 PM," Reported Vyse, and Aika wrote it down on the logs of the _Little Jack_. "You know, this is actually the farthest north I've ever been. Dad used to make supply runs to Sailor's Isle, but that was in the _Diligent_." Someone could have identified them if they had brought the _Albatross_ along, and even though he doubted anyone would report them to the Valuan Navy out of their civic spirits, enough gold could convince people to turn traitor. Quickly.

"Yeah. He brought me along once," Replied Aika. "But I was like, five. I don't remember much." She watched dozens of specs surrounding the distant island. "That's a lot of ships."

It was to be expected- Sailor's Isle was considered by many people to be the center of the world, the focal point of trade between the greatest nations on Arcadia- Valua, and the desert kingdom of Nasr. Every ship found itself there at least once.

Even though the Valuans had repeatedly annexed the island, they didn't dare send troops to attack it- it was too valuable, and the citizens of the town planted on it had laced the island with explosives. If Valuan Warships ever attempted an invasion, they would sink the entire island and deny anyone conquest of their home.

There were rumors abound that the explosives network was just a myth- a clever bluff to spook the Valuans, or that the Red moonstone bombs had gotten so old they decayed and were unable to fire any more. While this was possible, Valua never had the stomach to call Sailor's Island's bluff.

"Go get Captain Drachma," Vyse instructed, leaning over to get a better view of the island.

Aika nodded idly and walked off the bridge, descending into the ship and wrinkling her nose at the pronounced stench. "Man, I can't believe Drachma actually made Vyse stay down here for any length of time…" She passed the old, noisy, steaming metallic engine, and knocked on the double-doors leading to the captain's soundproofed quarters.

"What is it?" Asked the man, cracking the door.

"We have arrived at our destination, Cap'n!" Answered Aika buoyantly. When Drachma nodded she practically ran up above the decks to escape the horrid smell, gasping for the welcome air of the well-ventilated Bridge. "By the Moons!" She said, breathless.

"Fishy, huh?" Asked Vyse in a dry, sarcastic way. He noticed one of the ships he passed had raised a series of flags. What did a red and white flag horizontal mean… "Wait, that's a hailing signal. Aika, get out on the deck and reply." He squinted towards the ship that was attempting to make contact with them. "That looks like a medical frigate. Hm…" He saw the lettering on the side, "The _Sacres_. Yup. I'm bringing us about, reducing speed. Aika, when we're in range, work with their crew and attach lines and boarding ramp."

"Got it," She replied, reading the long coils of rope and sturdy, wide walking platform that allowed two ships in flight to contact each other personally. When the ships came within 20 meters, she tossed the first rope, and watched it sail across the sky. A man in a white doctor's jacket captured it, tying it to one of the ship's masts. He tossed one of his own ropes. Aika reached out, and her fingers brushed the edges of the grooved line. Fumbling, she finally caught it midway through the toss, and quickly tied it onto the _Little Jack_'s central support mast. They both secured two more ropes, and their engines slowly edged the ships together.

Drachma emerged onto the deck. "What's this?" He glanced to the Bridge's viewport, where they had set up Landis a safe hammock and where Vyse was monitoring the docking procedure carefully.

Vyse leaned out the hatch and replied, "They hailed us, sir, and I didn't see the rush. Maybe they could take a look at Landis, too, just to make sure he's ok."

"Alright, but any procedures come out of your coffers, boy," Replied Drachma, going onto the Bridge. "I'll nurse the helm. You and Aika get pork chops out onto the deck so the ship doctors can look at 'im."

Vyse nodded. "Aye!" He shouted out the open hatch to the front deck, "Aika! Get in here and help me with Landis, just in case!" The girl quickly hopped into the bridge, and they both went to the sleeping navigator. "Hey, wake up," He said softly, shaking him gently.

"Un…" Complained Landis, opening his eyes slowly. "Whas up, Vyse? We reached Valua?"

The young pirate snorted, and looked about. "Skies clear? Yup. We dead? Nope. So, no Valua yet." The dark humor even had Landis chuckling. "We got flagged down by a medical ship, and we thought while we're on it, they could take a look at you. Just to make sure." The navigator silently nodded his assent. "Can you walk?" In response, the portly injured veteran groaned and sat up, shakily getting to his feet. The two teenagers moved to either side and helped support him was the limped out to the deck. The wound had made it so that breathing was difficult for him, as well.

Drachma shook his head. "Moving him's gonna make it worse, boy." However, he didn't stop them or say anything directly.

They got him onto the deck, and set him down gently. Vyse ran back on and got some pillows and blankets, laying out a bedroll which Landis laid back on. "This is pretty comfy," He commented. "Alright, bring on the docs."

Vyse nodded. "Aika, here comes one." The doctor climbed over the side of the _Sacres_, onto the double-walkway formed by planks from both ships, and quickly crossed the small void. He leapt down, landing on the wooden deck nimbly. "Welcome onboard the _Little Jack_," Vyse said, giving a thumb's up. "Guy in the bridge is Captain Drachma. I'm Vyse. This here's Aika. And he's our navigator, Landis." He nodded to the injured man.

"A pleasure," Landis wheezed.

The Doctor bowed. "Thank you for coming alongside. You can just call me Doc, I'm a free ship doctor, who sails the skies without nationality and helps whoever asks for it." He walked over, kneeling next to Landis. "May I begin to examine the wound?" The patient nodded quietly, and he delicately started to unwind the cast that bound one arm and his chest together.

"Isn't it dangerous, just sailing about without cannons?" Aika asked, genuinely curious. _We should know_,dryly thought Vyse. _Not that some pea-shooters would have helped against an Arcwale._

"Not many people harass me. You would be surprised how even the most bloodthirsty Black Pirates or Valuan Gunboat Captains get when they find out I can help an injured comrade. And if they have no immediate need, anyone who's smart enough to sail knows they'll probably need me some day." He paused, finally getting the entire cast off. "Rough, but good, work." He delicately ran a hand down the front of Landis's ripped tunic. There was an enormous scabbing wound running down his chest, and his arm was similarly hit. Vyse winced as he observed the damage.

"So, what did you want to talk with us about?" Vyse asked, focusing on looking to the Doctor and not the injured crewmate. "And where's the rest of your crew?"

"I am the only one, besides Maria." He nodded to a little girl with blonde hair in puffy ponytails and large, sad eyes who clutched an odd bird-creature. "She's the reason I wanted to speak. You all look like competent adventurers, whatever you do." He handed Vyse without looking away from Landis a small lens. "This is a moonfish detector. It can be worn by itself or on spectacles without impairing regular viewing functions."

"Moonfish?" Croaked Landis. "I've heard about them, some…invisible floating things that hang around population centers. Right?"

"Correct, sir. Maria's little bird eats moonfish, and moonfish only." The Doctor shrugged. "I've never seen anything like it. But she's mighty fond of the creature, so I try to find moonfish where I can. This comes to my simple request for you- find moonfish. Bring them back here."

Vyse considered it. "I suppose we could always look around once in a while." He nodded, thinking about it. "What will we use to capture them?"

Aika said, "Yeah, most of them aren't gonna let us get close enough to toss a net around."

"I'm glad you asked." He turned, and produced a pistol-like machine. "This is a modified climbing grappler-gun, using Valuan electricity to propel a hook attached to a rope forward at great speed. I have attached a goo-like substance to the end that will wrap around the skin of the moonfish, trapping them. Then you just reel it in like a rod, and the fish is stored in the machine. It has a maximum capacity of five fish." Vyse took it, holstering it next to his blades.

"Alright, we'll do it!" He grinned and gave Doc a thumbs-up.

"Thank you," The man replied, smiling tiredly. "Mr.." he read the tag on the Navigator's ripped tunic, "Landis here looks to be doing ok. He's healing well, and I see no sign of infection. I assume you have applied healing spells?" Aika nodded. "Alright. I'm going to perform Sacres again, just to aid him further. At your current rate, you should be able to breathe alright in about two days, and you ought to be fully healed within three weeks, sir."

"That's good news," The portly man said, nodding weakly.

Doc took a step back, and knelt, clapping his hands together. He focused his willpower, and a green arcane circle appeared, glowing with power. Lines of light swirled upwards around him, and he implored, "Moons! Give Me Strength!" In an explosion of healing energy, Sacres flowed over Landis, mending hurts and easing his pain. The spell left sparkling trails of light in the air between the two men, but was soon evaporated into the air.

"That ought to speed you to recovery," He said. "Well, if that's all your injuries for now, I believe I'm done here. I will debark to the _Sacres_ and you can get back about your business. I'm glad I could help."

"We'll repay the favor," Assured Aika, waving as the Doc again leapt onto the boarding plank, drawing it up again once he was on his own deck. The two young pirates detached all the boarding lines, tossing Doc's ropes back to him, and he did likewise for their own lines. Now freed of all their attachments, the two ships began to slowly drift apart.

Vyse and Aika knelt next to Landis, helping him to his feet. This time he could walk with only a little bit of help, and soon was back in his hammock on the Bridge. Drachma said grumpily, "You better not be making no promises involving me without asking my permission, boy."

"Don't worry, sir, this won't affect you at all. Shall I take the con again?"

"Aye. Bring us into the northwestern docks, near the Guild chapter on this side of the isle." The old man pointed to a small map of Sailor's Island that he produced. Vyse complied with this, turning and powering the engines again. The _Little Jack_ was the first one to set off, while the medical sloop had no rush and easily cruised east, towards the massive reefs that separated most of Nasr from Mid Ocean.

The green craft slid past ships of all makes and models- ironclad tubs and elegantly carved wooden galleons alike. Most were free merchant ships, but Nasr and Valuan royal merchantmen mingled amidst the masses. Several ships flew diplomatic flags that Vyse didn't recognize. _There must be a conference involving the small Mid Ocean city-states. Wonder if the Valuans will be surprised to see the Windmill Isle representatives._ He snorted.

Vyse easily herded the ship forward, into a hangar, one of dozens mounted on metal outcroppings jutting out from the isle. Setting the ship down with barely a shudder, he turned to Drachma. "Captain, we have made landfall on the island."

"Nice flying, boy," Drachma said, and was already on his way, going out onto the deck. Vyse slid up to Landis to check on him. The navigator had slid off into sleep again. After making sure he was comfortable, he followed the old man off of the ship. Aika joined them, leaping from the deck onto the long ramp that led to the hangar floor.

The hangars were all connected like fingers, and had passages that all led to a massive pair of double-doors. They looked like elegantly hewn wood, but Drachma supposed the gates were reinforced with steel plating. This would even hold off the Valuans long enough to sink their isle. These folks are smart.

A single worker stood at the doors, opening them for people without asking for identification of any kind. He merely commented, "Nice arm," In a deadpan and admitted them into the island. Drachma let it go with only a menacing growl, leading the way.

They emerged into a bustling town that was almost the size of a city. Wide and clean streets wound around sturdy brick buildings, and a reinforced draw-bridge connected the two parts of the island to each other. Many busy people, some in sailor's uniforms, roamed the streets. It was the largest population center Vyse had ever been to, and he stood in awe.

"Wow."

"Yeah," Aika nodded. "They've got everything here! No wonder Dyne used to go for supplies to Sailor's Island."

"You can see why the Valuans want to sink their claws inter it, as well," Drachma rumbled. "Well, this is where you get off. I'm leaving here in the morn, and you're staying."

"WHAT?" Vyse turned in shock to the fisherman. "But we'll be stranded!"

"Not my problem," He tossed over his broad shoulder, turning and entering a nearby tavern before the two teenagers could offer more complaints.

They exchanged glances. "We just got ditched," Aika said.

Vyse sighed and shook his head. "Yeah… wait." He looked up and managed a smile. "We're not giving up that easily. Everyone's counting on us. All we need to do is convince Drachma to let us keep flying with him, and to take us to Valua." The daunting task seemed harder than Vyse made it sound, decided Aika. "Come on, let's go around and see if we can dig up anything that would entice him."

After visiting a dozen shops, from a map-maker to a restaurant, Vyse was beginning to loose hope, when he spotted a ship's parts shop. He sighed, face-palming himself for not thinking of that earlier. Aika giggled at the motion and led the way into the ship. As she opened the door a bell jingled, and she got a view of a large and chaotic pile of engine parts, deck plating, ammunition stocks, and even a black smooth-bore cannon, just lying around the shop.

As they picked their way through the piles, the owner of the store called out to them, "Welcome to my store, please excuse the minor clutter-sometimes I do forget to clean." Vyse did a double-take and suppressed a snort at the man's choice of hairstyles; a puffy Ixa, which made his hair look like a cannonball. He almost asked how much that kind of ammo sold for, but decided not to piss him off. He also wore metallic goggles and a muscle-shirt stained with grease. This guy was a techno-freak, no doubt.

Despite his rather odd appearance, the man was probably quite shrewd. Someone who did business with air sailors, pirates, and soldiers, the toughest and craftiest peoples of Arcadia, and managed to stay in the green was to be reckoned with. Aika approached the glass counter that displayed a variety of cannonballs, grapeshot, and special-purpose ammunitions.

"So, what can I do for you?" He asked pleasantly, flashing a pure-white smile.

Aika replied, "Well, we were just wondering, sir… if you could talk with us about something."

The shop owner nodded idly, leaning against the counter. "Sure. Business is good today, but I could spare a few moments for the kids of the Blue Storm."

Vyse looked surprised. "How could you tell?"

"Dyne touts his horn about you whenever he's around here for some new parts for the _Albatross_," He grinned again, "And he's one of my best and most faithful customers. How is he doing, by the way?"

"Not good at all. He's gotten arrested by Valua," Admitted Vyse. Maybe if this guy cared, he would help them more readily.

"Arrested? Dyne? Damn, I would have never figured. Then again, I did hear from some sailors in here from the _Claudia_ that the Valuans were cracking down on piracy." He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Wait, if he's been brought in, how did you two get out here?"

"That's part of our problem," Aika interjected. "We managed to get passage onboard a fishing sloop, the _Little Jack_. It's captained by a crusty-"

"Rusty," Corrected Vyse.

"- old man named Drachma. You heard of him?"

The shop owner chortled knowingly. "Everyone around these parts has heard of Drachma. He's been hunting Rhaknam longer than I've been alive. Lucky for me- I'm his go-to guy for modifications to _Little Jack_. How the hell did you manage to get him to let you onboard?"

"We got shot down by Rhaknam," Vyse admitted with a sigh. "He saved our lives."

"That isn't the Drachma I know."

"He wants to leave us here."

"That's more like it."

"We've been looking around for something we could give or tell him, to entice him to keep going with us to our destination. That's where you come in. Is there anything we could get from you as leverage?"

The shop-owner mulled it over. _Giving handouts isn't in my way, but this kid's father is a good customer… and I have a feeling he'll also have need of future services…_ "Alright. I do know something that I can see Drachma drooling over. My heavy-weapons dealer told me about a Nasrian technology that the Valuans stole and upgraded- the Harpoon Cannon. It's like a huge steel arrow mounted on the nose of your ship. When you shoot it the thing flies out. Massive projectile, with enough punch to run through a Valuan Gunboat with a single shot. And that's not all-there's a cable on the end. You can reel back the harpoon, which eliminates the need for reloading and ammo costs."

Aika grinned wide. "Wow! That sounds like a really useful gun. Perfect for kicking the shit out of Imperial task forces. Or arcwales, huh Vyse?"

The young teenager nodded. "Yeah. We play this right and Drachma will beg us to come along." At the thought of that he snorted. "Or at the very least, he won't end up punching me in the face."

"Noble goal," The shop owner said. "I don't suppose you're actually going to be buying anything today, right?"

"Right," Aika said, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry. We'll be back, though. Especially once we manage to go and piss off Valua."

"I bet. I'll keep the repair kits handy," The Ixa-haired man replied, waving to them as they exited. Emerging back onto the lane, they retraced their steps, soon nearing the tavern that Drachma was supposedly still at. With apprehensive glances, they pushed open the double-doors and entered the establishment.

The tavern was well-lit and clean, with barrels of Loqua mounted on metal brackets behind the counter. Tables of fine carved wood seated a wide range of customers, the diversity of Sailor's Island being reflected in the patrons. The owner, whose tag helpfully identified her as Polly, was a large woman who still retained a relatively attractive figure, with red hair and intelligent eyes that belied her age. She was pouring Red Loqua into a large glass mug, while Drachma perched on one of the stools, shoulders slumped as he waited for his drink.

At the noise of the doors opening, the old man cast a backwards glance and spotted both of them walking in. He grunted and said, "What now?"

"Well, Captain, we just wanted to make sure that you didn't want to change your mind." Vyse grinned charismatically.

Drachma growled. "Once my mind's made up, it doesn't come unmade, boy. I'm leaving, and you are not. That's the end of it, unless you'd like a physical aid." He curled the armor-plated fingers of his artificial arm into a fist.

He winced and took a step back, but Aika took up the thread without faltering. "Well, that's too bad, because we had some really nice info about a new cannon that could kill an Arcwale- but forget it. You're right. We've got no business with each other." Her clever smile told her confidence to hit the mark.

Critical hit. Drachma froze, his glass midway to his lips, and he turned the stool to face them. "What did you say?"

It was just like air fishing. Bait them in, and when they bite, make them squirm. "You know, Aika, when Rhaknam obliterated the _Diligent_, I didn't think anything made by man could stop it. Guess I was wrong about that." Vyse had shaken off his intimidation once he saw how rapt Drachma was.

"Yeah. If only someone would take us to Valua, we could show them this new and powerful technology." Aika refrained from giggling. They had him by the moonstones.

He had to save face, and growled, slamming down his cup vehemently. Red loqua splashed outwards, some of it spilling over the wood or running down the side of the glass. "Are you tryin' to bargain with me?!" Again he motioned with his hand, but this time Vyse held his cool without effort.

"If you put it that way… yes. Yes we are." He crossed his arms, still smiling.

"How do I know you two aren't just lyin' to get to Valua on my back?" He demanded, still suspicious of these two. _If there was a cannon like that, I would have heard about it before these two teenaged fools…_

"You know," Interjected Polly, looking over and leaning over on the counter to join the conversation, "I did hear something about that from a Valuan engineer who was in here about a day ago."

"Polly…" Drachma sighed. "I hope that you aren't just taking these two's sides because they're kids of the Blue Storm…"

Polly snorted. "Drachma, when have I ever lied to you? Ever?"

With no response, the old man stared at his glass for several seconds, submerged in deep thought. "I've seen all kinds of humanity in my years, Drachma. I can spot a liar, and a cheat. And these kids ain't neither," Continued the tavern's owner. Vyse crossed his fingers, hoping that he would decide to help them.

He heaved another sigh in defeat and said, "… alright. We sail for Valua in the morning."

"Really? Oh, thank you Captain! Thank you so much!" Aika literally jumped for joy a couple of times, while Vyse gave a thumbs-up to the old man.

"But," Drachma interrupted their reverie. "You two will have to earn it, just like before. I'll be working you the entire trip north. _And_ to even get past the Valuan Navy and their Fortress, we're gonna be needing a passport."

"Passport?" Vyse tilted his head.

"Yeah. It's an identification paper that Valua uses. Unlike other ports, they take their security serious- if they aren't sure who you are, they blast first. And they only issue passports to established merchants or foreign dignitaries. We are neither, so we'll need to get a bootlegged copy somewhere."

"Where?"

"Beats me. All I know is, that's your problem. I'm providing the transport. Try the Sailor's Guild, they have everything."

"Oh, and we could cash in for Pirate's Grave, too," Aika said, walking out the door eagerly. Drachma didn't have a chance to ask about the Discovery, for Vyse followed her. He shook his head. _What have I gotten myself in to?_ And ordered another drink. A strong drink.

The Sailor's Guild was across the street, next to the edge of Sailor's Island's southern part. It was one of the bigger buildings, and the archway was carved in calligraphy that was rumored to be of the ancient Silver Civilization: _Raffr eDf SjnIS Dkalern_. The modern translation: Safe Harbor For All The Travelers Of The Skies. Vyse stared at it for a while. "Hey Aika."

Aika looked over from the open door. "What…" She saw the lettering on the arch. "Hey, those symbols…" They resembled vaguely some of the patterns on Fina's strange clothes. She squinted. "That… is odd."

"Yeah. Dad always told me to act as he did. I think I want to ask her some questions, when we rescue everyone." Vyse quickly entered the structure. It resembled Dyne's study, with books and historical artifacts on display everywhere. A man whose features were sharp and thin, with the high Valuan nose that broadcast his land of birth, stood at the counter, intently reading a red leather-bound book.

"Excuse me, I need some help," Aika said.

He looked up from the book, closing it again. He did not smile, but looked attentive enough. "Yes?"

"We have discovered the location of the Pirate's Grave," She said.

"Really? We've been scouting for that for years. Wondrous. Do you have the map grid coordinates?" Vyse produced the roll of paper he had written them down upon, and he took it. "I'll sent a ship to investigate this. If this information is accurate, the money is yours. When will you be by this way again?"

"Soon, days probably," Vyse answered. _If the Valuans don't hurl us into Deep Sky. But that's a given._

"Excellent. I can have the bounty for you by then." He still didn't smile. Even so, he was quite pleased by this information. "What else can I help you with?"

"We need a Valuan passport," Aika explained. "Quickly."

"Hm… that would be tricky. Empress Teodora has ordered a freeze on all passport sales for the next month. The ones already validated can still go in, but I have no new ones to sell. I'm sorry."

"Damn," Vyse declared. "Well, forge one for us."

"Forge a Valuan Passport?" The man recoiled, as if the very concept of such an action was likely to get him hauled off by men in pointy cyan armor. He shook his head. "No, no, no, no! That is dangerous! Fraudulently creating passports is punishable by execution. They call it piracy, and they'd hang me with everyone else."

Aika crossed her arms over her ample chest, sighing. "What are you? Aren't you a man of Sailor's Island? What would everyone think if they saw you cowering like this at Valua's threats? It wouldn't look very good."

"Disgrace is better than the blade, girl. If I am caught I will most assuredly die the death." He crossed his arms obstinately.

Vyse was beginning to get discouraged as they cajoled him for the better part of ten minutes. Each time his answer was steadfastly in the negative. A Nasr Merchant entered the guild, and spotted the fracas. He overheard "get to Valua" several times, and fingered the plastic-laminated card within his spacious tunic, pondering. Eventually he spoke up, his thick accent uniquely coloring each word. "Excuse me? Did I overhear that you require passage to Valua?"

All three verbal combatants turned to look at the old man. "Yeah," Vyse replied after a heartbeat. "We need a passport, but this guy won't give us one. Apparently they're not being sold anymore."

"I think we could help each other out. I assume you have a ship, yes? I am a wealthy merchant, headed to Nasrad, my home, for retirement. I have had a long life and it has treated me well. If you will escort me to Nasr Airspace, I will give you my old passport. Free."

Aika's eyes regained their light. "Then, you've got yourself a deal, sir!"

0-0

The clatter of metal on metal alerted the prisoners. Two soldiers flanked Prince Enrique to each side, in the gold and purple armor of the royal guards. The prince himself was in his usual attire, a yellow rapier holstered at his thin waist. He halted before Dyne's cell and said, "Are you Dyne?"

The leader of the pirates looked up and nodded. Both men stared at each other for a second, their eyes unreadable. Then Enrique said, "You and your men are going to be moved now… to the Coliseum. Three days."

He didn't need to ask what was going to happen in three days. He knew. Everyone knew. Dyne turned to his crew and said, "Let's go, then." Enrique unlocked his cell, and went down the rows, opening each door. He was markedly calm as he did this, although his personal guards were on a knife-edge. Any hostile move towards the monarch would cost lives. That also did not need to be said. The soldiers looked capable- in fact, the best in all the Valuan Army. Hand-picked for the Prince's Guard.

He led the pirate crew through tunnels, and onto the boarding ramp of a Valuan ship. "The _Delphinus_ will take us to the Middle, which is where the Coliseum is," He announced, watching the haggard rogues march up onto his flagship.

The _Delphinus_ was the first of it's class; a prototype. The inner hull was complete, but nearly half of the deck plating and armor was missing, exposing some of the power circuits and wire frames. The entire ship was an unpainted gunmetal gray, although he had plans to add blue sidings to it once construction was finished. It was skyworthy, and could match a Gunboat for speed, even though it's engines had only half of their full parts and ability. No weapons were on it yet; but since they were under constant Naval escort, it didn't bother him. It was shaped oddly, with smooth, flowing lines in some places that seemed to clash with the angular design of the bridge and the completely flat main deck.

The ship detached with a rumble from the sky dock, and Enrique took his place in the elegant throne on the bridge. His family's crest sat behind him, a massive flag, with two smaller flags of his country to either side of the dull-grey walls. Soldiers clad in dark-blue armor manned a dozen stations on the bridge, and the viewport showed the nose of the ship pointing solidly toward the band of light that was the city.

Dyne was in one of dozens of well-furnished guest rooms aboard the royal flagship. He sat down on the velvet-purple bed and heaved a sigh. _Son, whatever you're going to do, make it quick._

The dark, stormy skies of Valua seemed particularly gloomy today. Maybe the Prince was just imagining things.


	7. Pirate Dogfight

Chapter Seven- Pirate Dogfight

Vyse dreamt. He was restrained by guards, disarmed, and forced to watch the guillotine claim the head of his father. The cheering multitudes in the stands screamed for more blood, while Fina wept, averting her eyes. Briggs was marched up next, the thin, wiry man casting an accusing glance at Vyse. _Why couldn't you save us?_ The piercing gaze was averted as he massive armored figure shoved him into the maw of the blood-strewn execution machine.

The young pirate awoke, screaming in horror at the bloody sight.

Aika was at his side, a concerned expression across her sleepy features. "Vyse! Vyse, are you ok? What's wrong?" The gas-light of their shared room had already been turned on, casting dim illumination onto both of them.

He was sweating intensely, adrenaline spiking throughout his system. Looking to Aika, he replied, "I'm fine… I just had a nightmare…"

She nodded. "Dyne?"

"Yeah."

She backed off, concerned but not wanting to pry. She was already fully dressed, and stepped out of the room, leaving Vyse with his grim thoughts. The young pirate leaned back and attempted to grab a little bit more sleep, but rest eluded him. He was wide-awake, and didn't have the stomach for another vision of his dead father anyway.

He prayed to the Moons that it wasn't an ill omen, and soon got himself dressed in his usual uniform. He went into the hallway of the inn, which was quiet and empty. Going up the spiral stairway to the second floor, he had a feeling he would find Aika on the balcony.

Indeed, she was perched over the railing, looking out over the island and the ships that sailed in and out of harbor, even under the darkness before sunrise. Her hair was down, and swayed with the gentle breeze that passed through the air. He walked up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked back at him, but did not object as he pulled himself close to her, resting his head on her shoulder. "Hey."

"Hey," Vyse replied. "You usually wake up this early?"

"Yeah… I like this time, before the sunrise. It's so peaceful, even here. I look up at the sky…" She paused. "It's like, there's something huge about the moons. I can feel it. I don't know what, but…" Shaking her head she smiled. "It's probably nothing… what about your nightmare?"

"Pretty bad stuff," He admitted. "We all get captured and killed by the Valuans." He sighed. "You know, that's likely to happen."

"Hey, what happened to the cheerful Vyse?" She asked.

"He took a look around. Aika, what are our odds? I heard that Baltor the pirate is gunning for that merchant personally. That's why he wanted a pirate escort of his own. Assuming we can shoot down his ship, then we have to pray that the passport is real and it's not expired. Then, once we get into the fortress, we have to outsmart and outfight most of the Valuan Army, under a terminal time limit, then escape again without getting flamed or caught and hanged." He buried his head into her vast red hair and wrapped both his arms around her. "It just all seems so… so hopeless. What we're doing… we're just two kids."

"Plus a crusty old man," Aika interjected, leaning into Vyse with a sigh.

"Yeah. And a wounded navigator. That'll help us against Valuan Marines." He snorted morosely. "Why are we doing this?"

"Ask yourself that, Vyse. You told me once, 'I'll never give up. Impossible is just a word that people use to make themselves feel better. When they give up.' I believed you. We had hope, we still have to have hope, and faith that we can get it done."

Vyse had no reply to this, silently holding her. They sat like that as the sun rose, feeling each other's comforting warmth as he embraced her.

After some time, Aika spoke up again. "Hey."

"Yeah?" Vyse replied softly.

"Vyse, I've been thinking a lot… about us." She looked over her shoulder at the same time that he looked up, so their faces were very close. Neither of them seemed to mind this too much, although her cheeks did begin to take on a reddish tinge.

"And?" Invited Vyse.

"We've been together for so long," She gushed. "Since we were so little, always by each other's side." He nodded, his arms still around her flat, toned waist. "That's why I think… we're not friends. Not just friends. We never have been, have we?"

"Nope," He answered with a carefree smile. "Does that make us more?" His thoughts about her lately, his feelings, could only amount to a simple observation. _I love her._

"I don't know," She sighed, looking him in the eyes. "I admit, I've had the same kind of thoughts you have. But, Vyse… I just can't think of you as anything more than… Vyse. Not Vyse my boyfriend, or lover. We don't have that kind of relationship."

An objection died, stillborn, on the young man's lips. He said, "No, I guess we never did."

"I'm sorry, Vyse. We'll always be special to each other, but…" She looked down. "I guess I've let you down, huh?"

"Don't say that," Vyse said, shaking his head. "You haven't let me down. You're still here, with me. We're still fighting for our family and friends, together. If this is how you feel, I will respect your wishes."

_Vyse, always noble…_ She smiled and turned, embracing him tightly. "Thanks," She breathed into his neck.

"You know," A gruff voice interjected on their touching moment, making them both look up towards the door, "Maybe I ought to just leave yeh two here to have your lovely moment while we sail fer Valua."

"Well, then you wouldn't learn where they're selling your Rhaknam-killing gun," Said Vyse with a smirk, regretfully releasing Aika. The two pirates followed their Captain through a town that was beginning to wake up as early-morning mist cast moisture onto every building and street. They had no reason to stay anymore, at least for now, and so they headed straight through the docks. The guard at the door this time was an old woman, who still let them through without trouble.

They walked onboard the loading ramp to the _Little Jack_, entering the Bridge. Landis was awake, laying on his cot. He looked up at his comrades as they entered. "Hey," He said. "A band of thieves broke in while you were all away."

"What?!" Aika said, shocked.

"Yeah, fought em off myself with my martial arts mastery," He replied dully, while Vyse chuckled and Drachma offered no comment, except a terse command for the boy to assume the helm which came in the form of a fist to the back.

"Ow," Protested the young pirate, rubbing his back as he stepped up to the controls for the ship. "Ready to cast off," He reported. "Shall I start the engines, sir?"

"Yeah," He replied. "Maintain position near the island, and look for that guy's vessel. It's a standard Nasr Kingdom mercantile-frigate." At this command, the engines revved up. Old as they were, they were still fully operational, and a shudder ran through the ship as it's moonstone fuel began to burn, sending vital power to all parts of the fishing sloop. The instrument panels lit up and the dials modulated to show correct levels of fuel, altitude, gas, and ammunition for the two storage compartments full of cannonballs.

The sails deployed from automated hooks and pulley-systems controlled by a large red lever to the left of the helm. The long cloth sheets unfurled, dropping down into position above the mast of the craft. Maneuvering fins on either side of the green frigate's hull flapped to life, as well, and _Little Jack_ started to ascend.

Vyse spun the wheel, turning the ship smoothly until they were pointed towards the sky. Sunlight flooded out the maw of their hangar, casting light into the windshield. He paused a moment, then pushed the throttle up to 1/5th burn. Shuddering again, the floor began to rumble and the walls moved to either side of them. The portal grew, until they passed out of it, into open sky.

A small ship with iron armor clad over it's wooden frame shot past them, shaking each other as they passed within meters of their sails striking. Everyone on the Bridge cried out, and Drachma cursed. "Hotshot asshole pilot," He grumbled angrily. "Are we hit?"

"Nope, we're fine," Vyse answered with relief lacing his stunned voice. "That was close, though." Their ship was now moving upwards, amongst many other ships. "Erm.. I better start looking… there!" The merchant's ship was raising several signal flags and the old man himself was on the main deck, waving happily. "Bringing us alongside."

The green ship appeared box-like compared to the elegant carved Nasrian galleon. It had no sails, all power being generated by it's enhanced internal combustion engine provided by Red moonstone technology. This allowed it to be less aerodynamic and more artistic, yet another sign of this person's wealth.

The Nasr Merchant cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, "I'll follow right behind you! In case of trouble I'll drop back while you draw them away to fight!"

Vyse nodded and yelled back, "Understood!" He turned to Drachma and gave him a thumbs-up and an optimistic smile.

The old man did not share this optimism, as usual. "Just get us going. Nasr's West Northwest from here, boy. If we move now, we can get there by 2 of the clock, and at Valua by tomorrow." This pushed Vyse to engage the engines, and the fins flapped rapidly as they got up a respectable speed. The merchant's ship easily matched this, following closely behind as he promised.

Several minutes later, they had still seen nothing besides the occasional benevolent merchant or transport liner, and the island was long gone over the opposite horizon. Drachma had retired to his quarters, leaving the teenagers alone with their sleeping navigator.

Aika perched on the guardrail of the stairs, kicking her feet idly when Vyse gasped. She looked over, jumping down to land smoothly. "What is it?"

Vyse had equipped his moonfish detector lens, and leapt back in surprise. A flowing airfish was hovering right before his face, looking stupidly at the complex helm controls. He took the lens half-off, and looked again. The fish had vanished. He replaced the lens and it returned. "Hey Aika, I just found a moonfish! Damn I'm good!"

"I thought they only hung around near population centers," She replied skeptically, walking towards him and looking around for signs of it. There were none.

"Maybe it came aboard when we docked at Sailor's Island," He hazarded with a shrug. "Either way, let's catch the little thing." He pulled out the modified weapon that Doc had furnished him, and raised it. The barrel of the gun was inches away from the fish's face. At the last moment, somehow, the moonfish realized what was going on and dived upwards desperately.

Unable to react quick enough, the teenager's finger squeezed down the trigger. It sent the capture device into the windshield, where the bio-goo splattered all over the front pane. "Ah shit," He cursed angrily, glaring at the fish that was doing victorious barrel rolls in the air above the ship. "I'll get you yet," He vowed.

Aika watched as Vyse threatened what looked to her to be thin air after shooting their own windshield with goo. "Sure you didn't skip your meds today?"

"You be quiet," Vyse said in an agitated voice because the moonfish's high-pitched noises had begun to sound like mocking laughter, pointing an accusatory finger towards the luminous creature. Then he turned to Aika. "You know full well I'm catching that blasted fish."

"I know full well you're _trying_ to catch that blasted fish," She said with a wink, giggling. Vyse sighed, reeling in the harpoon-like weapon. The goo tried to stick to the window for a second and then relented, rolling back into the barrel of the gun. The pirate swung around and fired from the hip, at the complacent fish.

The goo wrapped around the fish, which began to panic and squirm. Smirking he reeled it in, capping the weapon and holstering it again. "Sorry, Aika? What was that about how great I am?"

Aika rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you're awesome now." She looked over his shoulder. "Vyse, there's a ship up again."

He spun on his heel and spotted a black speck ahead. The mildly cloudy skies were otherwise completely free, making the object stand out. Magnifying his skyglass, he centered it in his view. It was a small floating island with a huge stone tablet perched over it. "What the Hells? Hey Aika, it's not a ship. Let's take the _Little Jack_ in for a closer look."

She stepped closer to the viewport, squinting. "Maybe it's another Discovery?"

"We're not that lucky… never mind. It looks like…" The tablet was split up into slabs that each pointed a different way. "This writing looks a little more clear. Um…"

North- To Valua (CAUTION: Low Visibility)

East- To Nasr (CAUTION: Hot Climate)

South- To Sailor's Island (CAUTION: Too Much Loqua)

"It's the Signpost," He said, grinning. "It is another discovery. Record the coordinates, Aika. Man, we'll be rich enough to buy our own boat if we find enough of these things." They tarried for almost a minute, and the merchant sent up signal flags to ask the problem. In reply the ship set out again, old man following nervously.

They continued on across the sky, still headed straight for Nasr. Another object appeared in front of them. This time, it was a large black galleon with huge sails, bristling with cannons and bearing the ominous flag of the Black Pirates flapping off the port bow. Vyse frowned as he observed this ship turn about towards them. Adrenaline spiked through him. "Aika, go get the Captain. We've just spotted Baltor."

Aika once again hurried through the lower deck of the _Little Jack_. This time she simply burst into the room, and yelled, "Captain, sir! We've spotted Baltor the Black-Bearded!" She was heard, even above the clatter of the nearby engine.

Drachma sighed as he got out of bed again. "Well, then I guess it's time for battle." He moved quicker than usual, joining Vyse on the bridge. "Listen up, boy. This is how we're going to play it."

The Nasr merchant slowed his speed, increasing the range from the escort as he, too, spotted the enemy ship. _Good luck, young pirates_, He said, praying to the Red Moon for their safety.

"This is gonna be tough. Baltor's ship is called the _Blackbeard_, and it's reinforced with iron, just like our ship. Our sizes are roughly the same, but he's got bigger sails. That will be good; bigger target profile. The _Blackbeard_ has forty cannon, twenty on each side, which gives him a significant advantage. He's a little slower, and we've got better turning. Overall he focuses on offense."

"So we'll counter with defense," Vyse interjected.

"That's right. Maximum steam, all engines to full. Do not slow down or we will be obliterated. We're gonna Cross the T, then circle around and do it again. With our speed we should be able to keep out of his reach at all. Me and Aika will man the guns, give us the signal to fire." Crossing the T was a maneuver where a ship that was headed straight for a target would come under fire as the ship moved in front of it and delivered a broadside. Their movements made the shape of a T, thus explaining the name.

"Aika, take Landis down into my cabin. It's reinforced with more armor, it's the most likely place in the ship to survive," Drachma ordered. She woke him up and guided him below the deck, ignoring his negative comments on the smell.

The ship rumbled and shook as the engines revved up to their maximum speeds. Vyse angled the ship so _Blackbeard_ was on the left side of the windshield, then turned to present port side to the Black Pirates. "Prepare to fire!" Drachma and Aika dashed onto the deck, the old man hefting a caisson full of ammunition and slamming it down in front of the four cannons on their side. They each took one, loading it into their weapons quickly. They loaded the other two, connecting their long fuses to a single ignition line.

"Ready," Aika replied, struggling to steady herself as the ship rocked. Their assailant spotted this opening move, and began to turn themselves to deliver their superior firepower into the _Little Jack_. They weren't maneuverable enough, and Vyse kept their nose to his ship as they approached firing range.

"Now! Fire!" The black frigate was in the perfect position- headed for them with their nose, while they were turned to present their guns. Drachma took a tiny Red moonstone fragment and slammed it onto the deck next to the rope, making a bang and a flash of sparks. The sparks and heat from the moonstone caught onto the ignition cord, and the flame spread within moments to each of the four cannon fuses.

The black metal cylinders belched fire, shaking the ship even more and filling the air around the two gunners with smoke. Four shots, grooved cannonballs propelled by gunpowder to lethal speeds, carved through the air towards their target. Two of the balls passed to either side of the target, and continued on, useless, into the sky. The other two slammed into the nose of _Blackbeard_, shaking the enemy ship as the front armor plating was smashed in and they flew inside, catching unlucky crewmen still in their quarters.

"Reload," Vyse bellowed, turning hard the other way with the wheel. The old ship responded to the command, rumbling as the floor tilted. The gunners sat down, strapped to the deck, and locked more ammunition into the cannons, replacing the ignition cord with another one.

_Little Jack_ shot away from the enemy, and had their back turned as they attempted to gain more distance. The black pirate ship turned ominously to face it with it's twenty portside cannons, and opened fire. Vyse saw this out the back-window mirrors, and began randomly slapping around the wheel to create evasive actions. "Incoming!"

Shot passed to either side of the old fishing sloop as it wildly slipped about in the sky. One ball slammed into a fin, breaking it off and reducing the ship's maneuverability by twelve percent. Another shot pierced the back armor, tumbling into the bridge and landing with a heavy thud next to Vyse's leg. He glanced at it, then continued to swerve the ship. Two more cannonballs tore into one of the masts, snapping off the top part and making the huge timber fall out into the sky, spinning helplessly as gravity claimed it.

"Boy, get us into position to fire," Drachma yelled.

"At this distance we won't be able to damage them much," Aika objected, taking an offered moonstone for her own uses from the old man.

"At least they won't be able to damage us, either," He retorted. "This ship won't stand up to a full broadside. We need to duel at range if we're to have any chance at surviving this." The ship turned to the side, and _Blackbeard_ came into view, tiny in the distant sky. "Aika, you're on damage control. Get the repair materials from the engine room and start patching up any battle scars. I can handle the guns," He said. She nodded, standing up and running back inside the decks.

"Fire!" Vyse hollered, and Drachma struck the ignition cord again. The cannons spoke out, sending another four messengers into the sky. The shots took two moments to reach the enemy ship. The black pirates presented a larger target profile, but only one shot hit- it demolished one of the cannons, causing a magazine explosion that bloomed fire out the deck and took out seven of their guns and killing at least a dozen of their crew.

"A lucky hit," Grunted the old man as Aika moved a sheet of metal up to cover the cannonball hole made on the back of the Bridge, nailing it in hastily at a few points, then moving on to the next site of damage.

"They're turning again to pursue and bringing about their undamaged side, Captain," Vyse noticed, setting up a temporary circular orbit of the ship from long range. "Their other cannons are about to come into firing arc. Orders?"

"Go evasive, now!" The return fire, all twenty shots, swarmed like mosquitoes forward. The black balls whistled through the air. One of the balls slammed into the bridge, flying in through one side and out through the other in a matter of a moment, sending wooden splinters flying. One of the sharp projectiles sliced into Vyse's shoulder, and he hissed in pain.

Two hit the side-armor. One of them bounced off, shattering the wood and metal reinforcements, and the other one hit in nearly the same place, exploiting the weakened defense. It punched through, bouncing around in the engine room and striking two coolant pipes. Liquid enchanted by mages of the Blue Moon began to spill onto the bridge, and Aika rushed down to patch the pipes before the engines overheated.

"Boy, we need to slow down," Drachma hollered above the wind, grabbing the side as his ship shook from the multiple strikes. "Or else we'll burn up our engines, and then we'll all be dining in Deep Sky." He began to reload his cannons at the same time.

The wounded pilot nodded, and sighed. "There goes our speed advantage. Slowing to one-half steam, Captain." The ship began to shake a little less as the speed entered sane levels for regular ships. Baltor saw this, and ordered his ship in closer for another attack as his gunners reloaded and fire control teams doused the ammunition-fueled blaze that sent a huge pillar of black smoke up out of his ship.

"The enemy is gaining on us, approaching from aft flank," Aika reported, leaning over the deck railing and watching the _Blackbeard_ grow in the sky. Vyse turned away in alarm, making a wide arc that would turn them to fire eventually while trying to stay on the front side of the pirate ship.

"Prepare to fire!" The pilot said, trying to find an opening. If they slowed down or turned to fire, the enemy would be able to do the same, delivering much more fire on them then they could to the Black Pirates. Eventually he decided to just take the shot, turning the ship to face the cannons forward. "Now!"

Both combatants fired nearly simultaneously, fire and thunder filling the skies. One cannonball from the _Little Jack_ was struck out in mid-air as it collided with a shot from _Blackbeard_, flattening both projectiles and sending them down into the sky, victims of fate. The other balls continued on.

Their assailant caught two of the three remaining shots. One ball struck a sail, ripping it down the middle with force and shaking their whole ship, and the other one tumbled out onto the main deck. The ball rolled across the wooden floor at over a hundred kilometers per hour, ripping off two peoples' legs as the crewmen on deck scrambled unsuccessfully to evade it. Blood spilled out onto the black tiling of Baltor's roof and medics rushed up to try and treat the injuries.

The fishing sloop was also pounded. Because they were not being evasive, over half of the enemy's 20-gun assault hit them. Balls slammed into the side, crashing through decks and ripping into cargo bays. A shot tore one of the guns mounted to the other side of the railing clear off, flying out into the sky with a shower of sparks. The old ship rattled as support beams cracked and bent. Something sparked a fire, and smoke began to trail out a hole in the starboard armor. Aika rushed to chant Weevil, a water spell to douse the blaze.

One lucky shot bounced off the deck, denting it, and flew at a harsh angle into the windshield. A spider web crack expanded through the glass, and a second later wind sheers broke it. All the glass flew inwards, and Vyse only managed to duck, sustaining several more scrapes on the back and hands as deadly shards pierced the air inches above where he had been standing.

_Little Jack_ began to turn away, trying to gain distance, but _Blackbeard_ followed doggedly. Both sides reloaded their remaining cannons and attempted to patch up damage. "This is attrition," Muttered Drachma with a sigh. "And his ship can take more than we can…"

"Let me take us in close," Vyse pleaded.

"We wouldn't last three minutes, boy," The Captain replied, glaring at the increasing aspect of the enemy ship as they gained on them.

"Well, if we aren't going to last, then why don't we take this asshole with us," Vyse replied, gritting his teeth in determination. Drachma quietly nodded and he spun the wheel, turning the ship rapidly. "Fire one more round, then we'll ram the bastard into Deep Sky." He throttled up the engines again. This time they coughed several times, shaking the foundations of the _Little Jack_ as they gained back speed.

They came into firing angle, and Drachma loosed a volley. Three of the shots found their mark, igniting another fire and piercing into the now evacuated crew quarters. As the smoke cleared it was obvious they had again failed to strike any critical areas of the ship.

The fishing ship was now facing _Blackbeard_, and the two vessels gained on each other rapidly. The air in the bridge began to whistle as the cannonball hole sucked in high-speed winds from their velocity. The young man gripped the wheel, half-crouching behind the displays and closing his eyes. _Dad, Fina, everyone… I'm sorry. We can at least remove this scumbag as we go…_

The ship shook, and he was thrust against the wall. The walls cracked and groaned, and the scraping of metal punctuated the air. Vyse's world spun, and then a support beam loosed itself from the wall, toppling over and landing next to him. He took shelter under it's half-leaning frame from more debris. He was blinded by flying shards, and laid fetal as the world disintegrated around him.

0-0

"I've got half a mind to bill you for all the damages." The gruff voice of Drachma intruded upon the darkness. It seemed to echo to him quietly, as though from far away. He opened his eyes, and saw open sky. "Consider yourself lucky we survived at all."

The merchant's laugh seemed glad. "You are the luckier one. I would gladly pay for damages, as soon as we reach home. How does 10,000 sound like?"

"That will do." The old man nodded passively, then turned to Vyse, who was sprawled across the dented and pockmarked deck. "Hey, boy. Get up. I know you're awake, I can see your eyes. We have to set out again."

Vyse awoke with a start, groaning as he sat up. Bandaging across his back limited his motion, and he leaned against his one good arm. "Oh man… I feel like shit, sir." He cast a look around. The _Little Jack_ was battered, and looked like it had just been through a sky rift; one of the masts was ripped clean off, all the sails were torn rags flapping in the light breeze, the rumble of the ship's engine was irregular under him, and the bridge was a torn mess of debris and wreckage. Fire damage pocked the front side of the ship. The least damaged part of her was her cannons, of which seven were left. "… whoa."

"I feel obligated to tell you, boy, that I can't decide." Drachma stared off into the sky as the merchant ship resumed a following formation a short distance behind them. "Should I thank you for saving us and beating Baltor, or beat the living crap out of you for ruining my ship in the process? So we've broke even. Resume your post and prepare to set out. Nasr is less than seventy kilometers away."

The young teenager stood up uncertainly. "Wait, we won?"

"Of course, otherwise our surroundings would be decidedly more gloomy," The fisherman sighed. "When we hit him… well, you missed slightly. Our hull slammed into their mast and sails, ripping off the top half of the ship while our bottom half got totaled. Their ship couldn't stay balanced with the other damages, and began to sink. _Little Jack_ is more balanced, so we could stay afloat long enough to reinforce the engines."

"So they're all dead?"

"Knowing him, he's got enough lifeboats for all Valua inside that battle cruiser," Drachma replied. "That won't be the last of him. Now that we've beat him, he's pissed off and won't stop coming until one of us is dead. It's his way."

"Alright, I got it," Vyse said, walking onto the bridge and picking a path through fallen timbres and metal. "Just one question. Where's Aika?"

"Sleeping off the work below decks in my cabin, where Landis is. It's pretty much the only undamaged section of the ship, because of the armor I put over it. She's been helping me patch up the ship for the better part of an hour."

0-0

The huge stone reefs of the sky were formidable obstacles, impassable hazards to navigation for most ships. Valuan Gunboats couldn't ram their way through without severe damages. They drew a long line that separated most of the massive desert continent of Nasr from the Mid Ocean, breaking occasionally to huge land formations that served the same purpose.

There were only two breaks in these reef-lines: the North and South Dannel Straights, two narrow channels that allowed air traffic in and out of Nasr. The North straight was blocked off by a strong storm that had been there for almost a year, and most experts feared it had formed a new sky rift. This would effectively mean that all passage to the desert kingdom would filter through one narrow opening.

The Nasr Armada took full advantage of that fact and declared a cordon of the South Dannel Straight. Two dozen _Grenadier_-Class Battle Frigates hovered in broad siding position throughout the straight and out of the passage's mouth. The stout ironclads bristled with more guns than _Blackbeard_ could dream of fielding on each side. Even the Valuan Navy couldn't attack them except as a single-file formation of ships that would be easily destroyed.

The distrust engendered by the recent war with Valua was still fresh in the air, decided Drachma as his comparatively small ship approached the straight. "Alright, that's close enough, boy. Flag alongside the merchant, so we can collect our passport and get goin'."

Seeing them slowing down, the Nasr merchant was two steps ahead of them, and pulled their ships side-to-side. He emerged onto the deck, leaning over the railing. "You were amazing," He said with a broad smile. "You have my thanks for seeing me safely from Baltor's clutches. You can have the monies and the passport, of course." He pulled out a large bag and heaved it across the short void of sky. It landed on the deck with a weighty thump.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Vyse said, waving to him. "Goodbye!"

"May the Red Moon watch over you, even in the darkness of Valuan skies," The merchant said, returning to his bridge and moving forward. The intimidating blockade cruisers moved aside slightly to allow the elegant ship into the straight, then resumed their positions.

Drachma turned to Vyse. "Alright. Normally we would return to Sailor's Island for repairs, but that would take time you don't have, and while I'm getting the Harpoon Gun I can get a full refit anyway. Set course for Valua, boy. Half-steam, nice and easy. We should arrive there by morning."

"Aye, Captain," Vyse said, spinning the wheel with a grin. If they could handle Baltor, he was suddenly feeling a little less intimidated by the Valuan Empire. _Dad, we're coming. Just hold on a little while longer._


	8. Valua

Chapter Eight- Valua

It was the largest structure ever constructed by mankind since the Great Civilizations of old fell many ages ago. Built of huge layers of concrete, brick, and steel, the Valuan Grand Fortress was over twenty kilometers wide and three kilometers thick, stretching down below the clouds and above the mountain-ranges, a massive half-kilometer long Valuan Royal Crest emblazoned in pure gold on the outer armor layers. Nothing got past this construct. Floating on small rock islands around the fortress were artillery emplacements and searchlights, scanning with watchful vigilance. Topping off this display of immovable might was a large fleet of Valuan warships- gunboats and cruisers with huge hulls of metal and swaggering turrets ready to belch destruction at any moment.

It was now morning, but the gloomy perma-cloudcover that enveloped the entire continent made it impossible to tell but for the small clock mounted on the wall. The Yellow Moon shone dully through the musky black cloud layers.

When the Fortress came into view, all four occupants of the _Little Jack_'s bridge took a long time to stare in complete awe at the spectacle before them. Vyse said, "It looks bigger than I thought it would…"

"Yeah," Aika replied. "How does anything get past that?"

"You'll see," Drachma replied. "Gunboat approaching off aft. They're hailing." The idea of a Valuan ship hailing first to ask questions was foreign to the two pirates, so the old man took the passport himself and limbered out onto the decimated forward deck of the ship.

A squad of Valuan Marines boarded their vessel after attaching docking lines. They had carbines out and moved into firing position so they could hit all four people simultaneously. Vyse had an urge to draw and attack, but Aika put a hand on his shoulder to remind him to keep his cool. An officer with golden-tinged armor and no helmet approached from the other ship, royal rapier to his side and no firearm to be seen.

"I assume you have a passport," He said in the bored and high tones of a native Valuan Upper City citizen. Flicking his eyes across the rough-looking owners of a damaged ship, he harbored severe doubts they would be blessed with such a document.

Wordlessly the old man glared and produced the passport, handing the laminated paper card over to the captain. The officer scrutinized it for several minutes, holding it up to a special yellow-moonstone flashlight to check for the genuine ink and paper used by the royal armada, as well as ensuring the plastic was sealed correctly. The longer the inspection dragged on for, the more time they all waited, seemingly breathless.

"I don't know how you got this, and I shan't ask, but this is valid. You may proceed. The Fortress will open at twelve o' the clock, each day, for five minutes. Lucky you got in today, so you can be in time to witness the execution of some more pirates we found."

"Execution?" Aika piped up nervously.

"Indeed. The imperious forces of Valua have apprehended Dyne of the Blue Storm and his rabble-crew. They will be eliminated at exactly noon on the morrow, which is unfortunate because you won't be able to reach the Coliseum in time for the show if you don't get in today." His unpleasant smile resembled a sneer, and Vyse recognized it as an imitation of Alfonso.

"Good thing we're here, then," Vyse said, trying to keep sarcasm or pain out of his voice. It appeared not to affect the officer, who nodded and collected his soldiers, going back aboard his own large ship. The Valuan gunboat, three times the size of the fishing sloop, slid off into the sky again, on the prowl for more merchants to terrorize with inspections. "Shit."

"We still got time," Aika replied, trying her hardest to shove the thoughts of execution from her troubled mind. "We can make more plans once we're in. What's the time?"

"Seven thirty-two," Drachma replied, walking back into the bridge and assuming his customary overwatch position, leering at Vyse's back as the pilot brought the ship closer in, hovering with the other waiting ships. "Looks like we've got a bit of a wait ahead of us, then."

"Yeah," Vyse replied. "I wonder why they only open their borders once a day."

"Security," The old man stated. "Also, they only have enough power to open the fort once and close it again. You see that crest? It's actually the portal. They open it sideways, then shut it again a few minutes later."

"They open that?" Aika questioned, staring towards the mammoth crest that was atop the colossal fortifications. "How? How does it move?"

"Some electrical stuff, I don't know. No one else does, either, except o' course the engineers who built it. Most of em are dead now, too."

"Thorough bastards," Vyse said, leaning on his controls to stare at the Fortress. _We're getting closer, Dad._

0-0

A theologian once defined warfare as great stretches of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. This definition could also be applied to being arrested by Valua and held in Death Row, a special part of the Grand Fortress that was reserved for those who were condemned and soon to be executed.

The Blue Storm and his crew were packed two to a cell in the larger, but still ill-maintained, cells of Death Row. With them were the crews of two more ships, most of whom were fairly quiet like they were. _Facing your mortality can have untold effects on a man's character._ Dyne smiled, as he delved into his memory for a happier time. _I remember so many good times on the _Albatross_… with my son, with Aika… with Martha. Guess that's all over now._ "Hey."

Briggs looked over. His Vyse Captain was still throwing up an air of calm control, which Dyne of course saw right through. "Yeah?"

"Remember that Looper?"

Briggs snorted. "Do I ever."

It was a small, teardrop-shaped white creature with a floating ring around it's body, like a hula hoop. One had just appeared on the deck of the _Albatross_, some five years back. Vyse was startled by it's appearance, and ran to tell the others. Dyne remembered that it could be dangerous, so he drew his pistol and opened fire. The creature, with what he could only attribute as magical speed, dodged each bullet. Once he had expended a clip, Aika came at it with the boomerang, ensuing a chase throughout the entire pirate ship. Chaos rained for over an hour before Landis got a net around it and hauled it into a crate.

"I think what I'll miss most is grandma," Briggs decided idly, his voice distracted and his eyes staring into the distant past. "She's been with us forever. The Valuans were bombing the island into the stone age, and she just sat there calmly. Her house wasn't touched, or nothing. I swear, she's a mage of some Moon, I just know it."

"Nah, she's just got gall," Dyne said, shaking his head. "Hey, I wonder what happened to the kids… did they decide to stay at home after all?"

"Not a chance," Briggs replied. "They're probably in Valua right now, plotting some crazy rescue attempt."

"Yeah, well I hope they bump up the timetable a little."

"Here's to that," Mabel the raider said from the cell across from theirs, raising one arm in a clenched fashion as if she were holding a cup of bubbling loqua. The pirates all had an imaginary toast, then fell into silence again.

The ceiling leaked.

0-0

"It's time," Vyse said, his voice coming out as a buzz because he was holding his nose, leaning against the frame of Drachma's door. The old man couldn't see what was so bad about the smell, but then again he had been living on his ship for forty years. They moved into the Bridge, in time to see the royal crest begin to move.

Aika gasped as the crest rotated. Motors throughout the Fortress began to move, and a hexagon segment of the armor in the center, around the royal crest, twisted. Opening, it revealed a long hollow tunnel that led into the Valuan Capitol, the best-defended city in the world. "Damn."

"Damn," Echoed Vyse in agreement, seeing the backside of the fortress. It was lined with massive guns, each one the size of the entire _Little Jack_. They stared out like menacing rows of enormous teeth, glowing with barely-contained power.

"Those cannons destroyed half the Nasr Armada during the war," Drachma noted, looking away. "Boy, this is going to be a tough job. Are you sure you're up to it?"

"No point in stopping now." Gathering his courage, Vyse joined the eager swarm of ships that flew into the gigantic maw. As they were halfway across, the Fortress rotated again, closing behind them. They were now sealed in Valua until tomorrow. Turning his gaze to the tunnel, he focused on flying the ship in a straight line. The bridge was silent as they moved through the seemingly massive tunnel at cruising speed.

The tunnel opened up eventually, and revealed the enormous continent of Valua sprawling before them- desolate rocks with enormous storms of thunder in the constant background. A band of light appeared in a gigantic crater-like formation directly below them, the city built into the floating landmass, and in the middle of the crater was the Royal Palace. It was literally a floating castle in the sky, and a thousand skylights kept it constantly in the greatest state of illumination.

Ships floated around all over the air, including military patrols and nobleman's yachts. The battered fishing ship stopped in midair, hovering as Vyse looked over at his shipmates. "So, where are we headed?"

"Take us into the Lower City first," Drachma instructed. "It's the dimmer of the two parts of the city, right over there." He pointed with his flesh hand. "Near that stone outcropping, that looks like a dry-dock. I can get the ship fixed up like new and install that Harpoon Cannon." The old man was practically salivating at the prospect of all the new power he would be able to throw at Rhaknam.

"Aye, Cap'n," Aika said. "And me and Vyse can look around for info and a place to stay while the ship's being worked on."

"Don't look too hard." Drachma's voice softened almost imperceptibly. "You might not like what you see." This statement was all the information that the two teenagers got from him, as they decided not to press it any further. _Little Jack_ fit snuggly into one of the iron docking ports, and metal clamps fastened around the ship, allowing Drachma to turn off the engines and get those worked on as well. A powered ramp extended onto the deck, and the harbormaster came aboard to talk with the old man about work.

Landis emerged onto the deck, carrying a slight limp but otherwise looking better. "Hey," He said. "I think I'm alright to walk for a while. Mind if I come with? Even this clean and fresh industrial smog is a step up from the fishy doom awaiting me."

Vyse grinned and nodded. "Sure. C'mon, guys, let's not waste any more time. We've only got a day to plan our stunningly heroic rescue."

The Lower City was not at all what Vyse had pictured in his mind for the capitol of the most powerful nation on the planet. It was a model of decadence, decay, and despair. Absolutely nothing was spotless, the handrails at the edge of the streets were so rusted it was impossible to determine their natural color, the paved streets were uneven, and the metal buildings looked ready to relent to gravity's pull and fall. Street lights worked sporadically, if at all.

The people looked worse than their environs. Lower City citizens usually wore rags or old military uniforms, threadbare from generations of use. The men were unshaven, the women had grease and dirt caked onto their skin. None of the adults were happy, and the kids seemed to look worse. One little girl played with broken chalk, using her smudged finger to draw on a relatively clear piece of dirty road. She looked up with a sad smile that wrenched at the traveler's hearts.

Landis sighed. "This place sucks." They passed a clinic that didn't have any supplies at all and a staff of old war veterans who didn't know how to help people that bothered to go there for injuries. Everything stank; the garbage smelled like it hadn't been collected at all.

"Wait," Aika interrupted, going back into the clinic. An old man was sitting there, coughing heavily. "What's wrong with him?"

One of the reluctant staff members said, "We don't know. We think it's a case of Black Lung, but we don't have the instruments to check and none of us are versed in Green Magics."

The girl sighed and stood back, kneeling onto the dirty floor. "Moons," She beseeched onto the heavenly orbs, "Give Me Strength!" Lattices of green light appeared around her on the ground, and sparks of emerald power flowed around the sick old man. They entered him, and he began to glow for a moment as Sacri worked to heal his illness. Within a minute the magic was gone, and so was the hacking cough.

The old man looked over, eyes wide in surprise. "By the Moons," He said, his voice shaky. "Thank you, young lady. Thank you so much. I never expected anyone to actually help."

"Why didn't this place have the proper medical stuff?" Landis asked him.

"We can't afford it," A doctor replied, his clothing looking even more dirty than the walls of his clinic. "The government subsidizes this place to keep it open, but doesn't give us enough funds. It's a choice between our tools and food for our children."

"This is horrible," Vyse objected, looking around again with righteous indignation. "This isn't right. No one should have to live like this."

"Tell that to her Royal Majesty," A woman replied, bitterness lacing her tired and haggard voice.

"I don't believe even the Valuans could oppress their own citizens in such a way," The Navigator said as they moved on, past subdivisions of pure filth. "These people… they've nothing to live for, no hope."

Vyse said nothing for a while, then spotted a dead neon sign, able to read out it's letters from afar. "It's an inn," He declared. "C'mon, let's go see it."

The building looked just as ill-maintained as all the houses and over places around it, and it was. The old lady who was the innkeeper looked up. "Well. Guests. Haven't had guests in a while. Beds are forty gold apiece, and that's not negotiable."

"Doesn't Drachma have our money?" Landis spoke up.

"Uh-oh," Aika interjected with a sigh. "Look, there's this big old guy with an eyepatch and a metal arm. He's going to come by later, he'll cover all of our rent." She smiled cutely, putting her hands behind her back and innocently bouncing on the heels of her feet. "So can we please go up now and wait for him."

The Innkeeper glowered. "You all better not be lying to me."

"If we are, you can throw us out," Vyse pledged, managing a smile. "We promise."

She handed them a room key. They went upstairs, and found the door was almost off it's hinges and didn't even need a key. It wouldn't lock. The room was filthy, and the small bathroom was indescribable. Everyone took an oath not to set foot in there at all costs. The beds looked just habitable, the mattresses old but relatively clean.

They were beds, just the same for Aika, who plopped down on one. "Aaaah," She said. "Even this is a lot better than a cot on a rumbling airship." Vyse nodded his assent, then glanced around again.

"Hey, there's only three beds…" He trailed off.

Landis snickered. "Well, looks like that opportunity you two were waiting for's finally here." He sat down on the second bed with a sigh. "Just don't make too much noise, please."

Vyse turned beet-red. "Hey, cut it out Landis. We wouldn't do anything like that…" Aika signaled her agreement by tossing her pillow at Landis. It bounced off the portly navigator, who was laughing it up. "But I'd rather be in the same bed with her than you or Drachma."

"Good to hear," He replied, laying back onto the dusty pillow of his own. "Plus, I don't think you'd fit with either of us." The two teenagers were both thin- they'd have plenty of room.

"At least I don't need to sleep next to the _Little Jack_'s engine," Vyse said, sitting next to Aika. "You know, that old pile of shit is so noisy I swear it's going to shake itself apart soon." Drachma entered the room silently, and Aika looked up. "By the Moons, that whole ship is just like Drachma- rusty, crusty, and unpleasant."

"You're welcome," The old man rumbled, annoyed. Vyse looked over, stunned, and started babbling out excuses. "Forget it," He growled. "We've got more important business to attend to. The execution will be held in the Coliseum, but we can't get in via the regular ways. All the tickets are sold out, and our names are all on the piracy rolls."

"So we'll sneak our way in," Aika replied confidently.

"Right on the money. You and the boy can get out and find a route that we can take. Try the sewers- it might not be up to your usual standards of pleasantry-" Vyse winced. "-but it runs all over Valua, especially under the Coliseum."

The two teenagers stood up, making an exit. The innkeeper merely grunted at their passing, as if to tell them they had gotten lucky… this time. Vyse got the definite feeling that in the Lower City, luck was a rare resource.

More gloom and muck. Compared to the inner portions of the nightmarish metropolis, the suburbs near the docks were paradise. Now streetlights did not work at all, and long shadows cast everything into near-darkness. The people shambled along, and a dead corpse laid in the middle of the street, untended for an unknown amount of time. It smelt badly, and flies flocked around the rotting meat. Aika saw it and lurched, barely preventing herself from vomiting. She wouldn't have been the first person to do so, by the look of the streets.

At several points, it occurred to the Blue Rogues that they could have been jumped by muggers at any point during their walk down these hopeless boulevards. Certainly desperation would force the hand of at least one person, and they were on constant alert for signs of trouble.

They arrived at a large square, which might at one point have been a public courtyard. It was in a similar state as everything around it- poor and dirty. An armored manhole was prominent in the middle of the courtyard, and Vyse said, "That looks like our best bet."

"You two must be pretty stupid." The comment was clearly directed for them, and they both turned around. Addressing them was a child. He had messy, long and rumpled flame-red hair, angry and narrow eyes over a broad and round face crowned with a small nose, pale skin, and was wearing some kind of home-made dark-green tunic, with worn boots and a pair of knuckle-dusters that might at one time have held a form of metal on their barren leather surfaces. He leaned against a building that looked more richly adorned than he was.

"What was that?" Aika asked, crossing her arms over her ample chest and cocking an eyebrow down at this kid who had just insulted them.

"I called you stupid. What, don't you understand English?" Obviously his disposition was quite hostile and defiant, and he looked like he had something personal against both of the Blue Rogues, even though they had never met before.

"No, what I don't understand is how you could possibly have the balls to insult me," Retorted Vyse, chuckling. He wasn't angered, but rather slightly amused at the youth's attempts to project intimidation and toughness. It reminded him of his own actions around Dyne's crew when he was younger. "They certainly haven't dropped yet." Aika giggled.

The kid stood up, getting off the wall of the building in indignation. "The name's Marco, and everybody who's anybody knows me in this town. And you're travelers."

"How can you tell?" Aika asked.

"Because you ain't got shit all over you," Marco smiled darkly, and then continued, "And you are stupid, because only someone who's truly stupid would willingly walk the streets of Lower City." Aside from the annoying presentation, Vyse had to admit to himself the boy had a point. "What's your names."

"Why should we tell you?" Vyse replied, intentionally looking down at Marco. "You're just some little kid."

"Kid?!" That set him off. Now the ragged youth was full-out glowering at both of them and Aika had no doubt he would have punched them if he could have reached. "Who are you calling a kid?!"

"You," Succinctly replied Vyse, trying not to laugh in amusement. Aika snorted behind him.

"At least I'm not some glass-eyed freak, or a big-tit bimbo," He retorted in an absolute furor. Vyse and Aika exchanged glances.

"Vyse here's a real man, you're just a bratty kid," Aika replied, laughing as he got angrier, wondering if she could induce steam to come out of his ears. _We might discover a new source of power for the Valuans, and then we could convince them to let everyone go_.

"What?!" Marco had finally had enough, and balled his fists. For a moment Vyse pondered ways to disable him without causing harm, and then was looking at his back. The child bolted, screaming a pledge. "I'll remember this, you fools!" He was soon out of sight in the gloomy environment.

Vyse looked over to Aika. "Kids are the future. And from where I'm looking, this place's future doesn't seem any better than the present."

"Yeah. Let's go back to report to the Cap'n and Landis."

They were about halfway back to the inn, as Vyse determined it in his head, when three people emerged to block his path. They were all dressed poorly. They wielded sharp-looking knives in their hands, and eyed them both, especially Aika, with hunger.

"Y'aint one of us," The apparent leader of the group declared in a hoarse brogue, "But Y'aint no noble or soljer neither. Yer a trav'ler, and they wouldn't care if we mugged a trav'ler." His eyes flicked over Aika, and he liked what he saw. The tight dress probably didn't help that. "And we'll do better fer you, lass."

"As if," Aika said, rolling her eyes. She suddenly realized something very important. "Vyse, where are our weapons?"

"…" Her friend paused for a pair of heartbeats. "Shit."

Landis was idly polishing Vyse's cutlasses and Aika's boomerang at the Inn, alone since Drachma had gone back to the docks to oversee the refits some more. He hummed an old pirate song, oblivious to their owners' need.

The three highwaymen walked closer, putting up their weapons. Clearly they intended to kill Vyse right away, and it looked like diplomacy was out of the picture. Vyse and Aika dropped into unarmed fighting stances. The leader moved forward first, and suddenly lunged straight for the teenager, roaring out a desperate battle-cry.

Vyse leapt back out of range, and exploited the sloppy attack. He sent a powerful right hook into the man's face, and he fell back, temporarily blinded as his nose folded in on itself and blood ran down from it. His two allies attacked as one, slashing quickly. Vyse moved out of the way, but received a single small cut on his forearm. He hissed as pain that was much greater than the wound would suggest shot throughout his arm.

The leader chuckled, and said, his voice distorted by the injury, "Like our new assassin daggers, eh? Yeh won't be able to put up a fight fer much longer, and then, oh then we'll take care of yer little woman."

"Little woman?" Aika echoed. "That's it. Moons, Give Me Strength!" She didn't need her boomerang to cast Magic, as she demonstrated. Purple light surrounded her, illuminating the dirty road brightly. The muggers covered their eyes from the light, as a dozen needles crystallized in the air, crackling as they formed. She controlled their flight path with her conscious thought, and focused on one of the enemies. The mugger was run through with the ice, a dozen punctures that yielded the blood of the victim.

The man screamed, flailing as he fell. This only served to ram four of the ice-needles deeper into him, and he roiled about the dirty ground, dark blood tinting the cobblestones. The other one looked up at Aika, eyes wide. He collected himself and dived in at her with his own blade. Vyse stopped him with a spin-kick that knocked his brain around inside his head. He dropped his weapon, flying onto the side of a nearby building from the force.

The two pirates turned on the leader, the only one still in the fight. The malice he felt towards them quickly evanesced, and he turned and ran, fleeing away. Neither of them gave chase, and Vyse snorted. "I wish all fights were this easy. Maybe no one else will challenge us now that we've kicked some ass."

His gloating was cut short as he gasped again, his arm feeling like it was on fire. "Sacri Crystal," He hissed urgently to Aika, who took out one and placed it over the wound. Automatically the magic sealed in the crystal emerged, spreading into the wound and destroying the poisons in his system. He sighed in relief as the pain receded, and the wound immediately began to scab over. Soon there would be little trace of the injury.

"Are you ok?" She asked, her voice full of care as she leaned in close.

Vyse nodded, flushing slightly from the closeness. "I'm alright now." He turned and knelt down, taking one of the poisoned blades and putting it in a spare pouch in his tunic. "This might be useful for later. C'mon, I've had just about enough urban explorations." He was liking Lower City less and less each minute he spent here.

They made good time back to the Inn, and went up to their room. Landis looked up as the metal door creaked; it obviously hadn't seen oil for years. "Hey. I was just caring for your weapons, trying to return the favor." The cutlasses shone in a way no part of the room did, and the crystalline boomerang that had accumulated some chips and dents in it's surface was again flawless

Vyse smirked wryly. "Thanks." He sat down on the bed, laying over it sideways and letting his head and hands hang off the other side.

"Any luck?" The navigator asked, adjusting his goggles nervously. Everyone was anxious and tired, the gloom of everything seeming like an infectious rust that tarnished any visitors.

"Yeah," Aika replied, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. "We found a manhole we can access. We can sneak right in under their noses and get into the Coliseum to rescue Dyne and the guys."

"Great news," Landis replied. "So, let's get going as soon as Drachma gets back."

"That's the plan," Vyse said, managing another grin. _We've come this far, there's no turning back. _He frowned. "Anyone else hear that?"

"Hear what…" Aika trailed off, seeing a flash of a face withdrawing from the single closed, dirty window the room sported. "Crap. We have an eavesdropper." Both men sprang to their feet in alarm; anyone reporting them to the Guards now would end their rescue attempt before it began.

The three Air Pirates dashed out onto the hallway, and saw out the window in the end a familiar kid for a split-second. "That's that Marco kid," Aika noted, squinting as they ran outside the inn and looked around. She spotted him again, along a roof and scrambling away as quickly as he could. "That little shit's really fast."

"Damn," Vyse said, then turned. "Boost me." Landis nodded, kneeling and putting out his hands. Vyse stepped on them, and the navigator tossed him upwards with all his strength. The teenager gripped out, holding tightly onto a rusted gutter. He hoisted himself up, pivoting on his heel and dashing forward. Flying through the air and landing easily on the next building over, he desperately tried to keep Marco in sight as he pursued him across the rooftops.

Drachma spoke up. "What's he doing?"

Landis turned, and replied hastily, "We caught some little urchin trying to spy on us. He overheard our plans to break into the Coliseum." Drachma's eyes widened and he motioned for Aika and the smaller man to follow him, running down the street. They did, amazed at his capacity for speed at such an old age and with that huge metallic arm.

Vyse kept up the chase doggedly, feeling fatigued but dragging on with an iron will not to loose sight of him. _I can't let him get away, I can't let him get us all killed…_

His opportunity appeared. Marco landed like a cat onto the ground of the stone courtyard with the manhole, running over and attempting to dislodge it. He groaned at the effort, the heavy steel not budging under his best try. He was suddenly lifted into the air half a meter by the back of his tunic, and Vyse said, "That's far enough, Marco."

"Let me go, you glass-eyed freak!" He demanded, flailing at the air and trying to escape. It was to no avail, and Vyse's grip was as iron as his resolve. Suddenly he got his wish, falling to the ground with a hard thump. "Ow! You didn't have to drop me!"

Ignoring his complaints, he crossed his arms. "I assume you overheard our plan."

"To rescue the Blue Storm from execution? Yeah," Marco nodded triumphantly. "And I think the Guards would be very interested to hear about it."

"Then I guess we've just gotta kill you," Drachma said. Vyse looked over in surprise, and found all three of his friends approaching them from the street. When the old man reached them, he put up his mechanical arm but Landis gripped it with his own hand.

"Wait a second," Landis counseled calmly. "He's just a kid, Drachma."

"Go ahead," Marco said coolly. "Kill me. No one would care, and I wouldn't have to bother scrounging for food in the trash every day."

"Good. Then you have no regrets."

"Hold on," Interjected Vyse. "We need information from him, sir!" He spun around to face the kid again, and said, "Do these sewers lead to the Coliseum?"

"Yeah," Marco replied, then he paused. "Wait, you were serious?" He broke out in a fit of annoying laughter. "_HA_, you cannot be serious! That is so stupid! You don't have a _clue,_ much less any _prayer_ of rescuing prisoners from the Valuan Army."

"No, I'm just a Blue Rogue," He shot back, narrowing his eyes. "And we never give up." Staring down upon the defiant and defensive form of the Lower City street urchin, he smirked. "You know what? I don't think you're really as tough as you let on, Marco. I think you're a big coward."

"What?!" Marco demanded, springing to his feet. "Take that back!"

Vyse continued, "If you were out sailing, and you hit a storm, you'd probably want to run away. 'It's too rough! I want my mommy! Waaah!' That's what you'd say."

Marco glowered with hatred towards him. "… what are you trying to say?"

Vyse did not reply, turning to his comrades. "They've probably got Dad and the others locked up in the Fortress until execution time, I think they called it Death Row. So tomorrow, at ten of the clock, we enter the sewers, infiltrate the Coliseum from below, and rescue everyone. Then we escape, while they've still opened the Fortress." Everyone nodded, and they turned to leave.

"Hey, wait," The kid said, scratching his head in confusion. "Aren't you gonna kill me?"

"By the sounds of it," He tossed over his shoulder as he walked back to the Inn, "You've given up on living. I just want to give you something to see before you die."


	9. Execution Day

Chapter Nine- Execution Day

Valuan mornings were no less gloomy then their afternoons, perhaps they were actually more so by the knowledge of the absent sunlight. Landis opened his eyes, and saw the rusted metal of the ceiling above him. He yawned quietly and stretched out, turning to look around. Drachma was still sleeping soundly, the only man's snores generating considerable white noise, while Aika and Vyse embraced each other. The navigator smiled slightly as the two of them slept with affection.

_Well, I won't be able to get any more sleep. I guess I'll get up._ He sighed as he sat up and the metal bed creaked slightly in complaint. _I'm getting fat_. He chuckled morosely.

Drachma was the next to wake up. He had carefully trained himself in years of sleeping alone to always sleep exactly nine hours. He glanced to a small uncovered mechanical clock on the corroded wall and huffed in satisfaction. _Nine hours four minutes. Good enough._

He also saw Aika and Vyse cuddling, and had much the same reaction. _Who does that remind me of?_ He asked himself. _Someone who died a long time ago. Rhaknam killed 'im in the sky._

It was a pleasant awakening for Vyse, as he felt the warm body against him, smelling Aika's scent before he opened his eyes and was almost blinded by the dazzling red hair. He was fully content, and was about to drift off again into sleep when Aika spoke up, her eyes still closed. "About time you woke up. I was waiting."

"Why haven't you gone yet?" He asked in a low, husky voice.

"Enjoying as much time with you as possible," She replied and Vyse blushed. Then she appended, "Plus, you've got me in a steel bearhug." He noticed he was holding her tightly, and quickly loosened his hold.

"I'm sorry… did I hurt you?" Vyse had a tendency to do that, clinging to the nearest thing on his bed, often his pillow.

"Nah, it was just… snug." Aika thought about the perverted inflections she could add and giggled silently. _It's too early in the morning for that, though._ "Say, both the old guys are gone." She slowly raised herself up on an elbow, looking around the room.

Vyse grinned; he was getting a face full of her large assets. Then he banished those perverted thoughts and rolled smoothly off the other side of the bed, arching his back as he landed and snapping up to a standing position. _It's too early in the morning for being a pervert. Ah, hell, who am I kidding, it's never too early to start being a pervert! Heh!_ They had slept in their clothes, and so only needed to grab their gear and weapons before they stepped out into the hallway.

Landis was at the end of the hallway, looking out the half-broken window into the stormy skies of Valua. He heaved a sigh. Vyse and Aika exchanged glances and walked over to him. "Hey, man," Vyse greeted him and the navigator turned.

"Hey," He replied in a subdued tone. "I was just doing some thinking."

"Yeah," Aika nodded. "I think we all have. Well, everything rests on today, right?"

Landis nodded. "I'm amazed we got this far. You know, we've really got at shot at this working. Maybe, if we can rescue Dyne… maybe he'll forgive me for running and hiding when they attacked us." He head drooped slightly as he said that.

"Landis…" Vyse said with a sympathetic frown. "I thought you were getting better."

"It still bugs the hell out of me," He admitted. "I still feel wrong. That's why we have to win today. I gotta know that they don't blame me for this, irrational as it is."

Aika gave a big thumbs-up to both of them and grinned. "Hey, this should be no problem, right? Where's the Captain?"

"He went to the docks," Landis replied. "I saw that Harpoon Cannon as they were installing it. Damn, that thing is the biggest weapon I've ever _seen_… anyway, he says that he'll get the _Little Jack_ ready to swoop in and rescue you. Use this flare to signal him when we've got them and are making a break for it." He handed him a small pistol. "He lent me his old hunting rifle so I can come with you two." He indicated a smallish wooden weapon slung onto his belt. "I might not be much for running, jumping or magics, but I'm an OK shot."

Vyse nodded. "Alright, then. Let's go. No time to loose."

0-0

Once again Dyne had come face-to-face with Prince Enrique. The two leaders sized each other up again, unable to read much from their stoic expressions. Enrique said, "Now is the time," As his soldiers unlocked each cell and ushered the Blue Rogues out into a long single-file line. As Dyne walked past him he said in the quietest whisper imaginable, _"Your son is here. I will keep the Fortress open."_ The older man looked over in surprise but Enrique showed no emotion, merely turning and walking ahead of the column.

_Patriotism is loving your country all the time and your government when it deserves it,_ Enrique recited within his mind, remembering that piece of wisdom given by one of his close friends; Vice Captain Rivers, of the _HMS Cygnus_. He was dead now, and it was Alfonso's fault.

Alfonso. Merely the name made him angry in a way he very seldom was. The man was the perfect example of why Valua would run stagnant on aristocracy; incompetent and arrogant enough to think he wasn't. _For once you had me agreeing with Lord Galcian, bastard._

Galcian had called a meeting of the Valuan Admiralty. The top commanders were all assembled for the first time in over a year, at a simple oak table covered with classified reports written by each of the distinguished individuals. Enrique was also in attendance, seated on the throne looking over them all, but Teodora had declined, having other business of some sort.

Admiral Alfonso was the first one called upon, to explain the loss of his priceless flagship. He had no clue that the Blue Rogues had released the ship and her crew after plundering it's holds, and that they had all filled out their reports by now. Thusly, he believed he could get away with an utter lie.

"Well, my lord," He began, his high and annoying voice grating in Enrique's tired mind, "I was traveling on another quest for that… girl. Little did I know a pirate attack was about to hit us. Me and my crew dueled with the vile rogues for many minutes of furious battle, before we were finally… betrayed.

Yes, distinguished colleagues. The only reason that the enemy could have bested me is _that I was sold out by my own Vice Captain to the Blue Storm_. When I discovered this, I was so _transported_ with rage that I struck him down, as our law allows for such offense. Then I fled, in disgrace but comforted with the knowledge that I had done all I could against an inferior foe."

Enrique could stand it no longer. He stood up, his hand going to the hilt of his rapier, but before he could draw and challenge his worm of a brother to a duel, he was stayed. Vice Captain Ramirez was at his side, and as they gazed into his eyes, the Prince found himself entranced. The officer said in a low tone, "My liege, please, collect yourself. Such measures are not necessary. Lord Galcian knows of his treason well as you do, and he is not a… forgiving man. Risking yourself is not advised."

Angered as he was, he had to concede that point. He sighed, and after a heartbeat, resumed his throne, pacified enough to observe from a distance. Ramirez smirked and also turned to watch.

"You are a liar," Galcian declared simply, looking right into Alfonso and glaring with a mighty furor. The other Admirals all looked to the two of them in surprise.

"Wh-what? But Lord Galcian, I tell you that-"

"Then you tell _lies_, Alfonso. Your crew has already returned to us, and they have told us the truth. I have 200 sworn statements from every single officer and marine surviving that were assigned to the _Cygnus_ that contradict you completely. You are a coward, and a traitor."

"No," He gasped, eyes wide and voice even more girly than usual, "No! It cannot be! I tell you I did all that I could-"

"You're incompetent," Galcian continued icily. "You were bested by Air Pirates. And instead of throwing yourself on your sword, something I am not loath to do to you instead, you threw your loyal officer upon it and fled. You're weak. Weakness is something I will not tolerate in the Grand Armada."

Alfonso continued to sputter out half-dead excuses and rationales.

"I would kill you, but for your royal status. For failure such as this, no punishment is too great. You are hereby assigned to joint operations on the Lost Continent with Admiral DeLoco, never to return to Valuan skies again." It was equivalent to banishment, and everyone knew it. Alfonso began to object but another hatred-filled look from Lord Galcian silenced him utterly.

The genius DeLoco was a very strange man. Short and high-pitched, he wore a glass cage over his head and was always arrayed with his newest gadgets, and had furnished over 30 percent of the modern Valuan weaponry of war. His flagship, the _Chameleon_, was an odd-looking creation that did not in any way resemble it's namesake. He chuckled. "Excellent. Another use for my experiments…" The look of dismay on Alfonso's face was priceless, and Enrique savored it.

The rest of the meeting was fairly more dull, mostly good news about new peoples subjugated, and that most of the Admirals had met their death and doom quotas for the year.

He had told no one of his plans. Now that Rivers was dead, murdered by a fool, no one could possibly understand.

He knew it was the right thing to do, and it gave him a certain thrill to know he would directly be defying his mother in helping the pirates escape. He had been arranging his plan for days.

The Grand Fortress was quite a work, and even he admitted he was still awed by it's magnitude. To open it required the operation of thirty massive motors hidden in the deepest recesses of it's armored surface. There were forty, which ensured that even if 1/4th of their engines failed, they could still provide an exit from Valua in case of emergency.

He had subtly altered engineering assignments and guard posts, filtering in people who were loyal to him and slowly pushing apart squads that he knew disliked his merciful approaches to governance. It had been done so secretly and quietly, he doubted even the illustrious Lord Galcian could have caught it's action. By now he was confident he could order the shutdown of fourteen motors at his will, which would lock the Fortress's gate in whatever position it was in. Timing was critical, but he could make it stuck open long enough for the Blue Storm and his men to escape aboard the _Little Jack_.

His mother believed him a naive fool, when in fact she was the fool. He had been making connections, and had access to information that she did not. Besides, the Air Pirates hadn't been bothering to mask their presence much- he doubted the citizenry of Lower City was eager to 'do their duty' as 'loyal Valuans' to their country who had 'screwed them sideways'.

_Yes indeed_, He thought with a covert smile. _This will be fun._

Dyne was smiling as well, shaking his head. _Son, you've got the Prince of Valua on our side. If I ever see you again, remind me to congratulate your swashbuckling._ He wasn't sure about any exact plans, but he told his crew that something big was definitely going down to rescue them. They all seemed buoyed by this news, and with good reasons.

0-0

"It smells like something spent a week in the _Little Jack_'s main hold, then died from the smell as it shit itself," Landis declared, his voice echoing in the large stone tunnels. Sickly green water flowed past them, in the middle lowered section of the sewers. Aika was the last one down the long access ladder leading down, and again only stopped herself from vomiting by moments.

Vyse pulled out his weapons and took the point as the group of three pirates slowly moved along the twisting maze of underground passageways. "Stay on your guard," He commanded, "No one comes down here so there's probably plenty of monsters."

"Knowing the ethical standards of the Valuans, they probably intentionally breed horrors down here, to deter any ruffians from… oh, sneaking in and rescuing prisoners." Landis grinned slightly, but as his face was scrunched at the smell it looked like a grimace. He took a fresh clip of ammunition and slapped it into the rifle, the weapon making a reassuring clack that echoed throughout the tunnel.

They passed across a long open section and down a level, using another rusted but serviceable ladder. One part of the sewer was collapsed, with rubble partially blocking the flow of noxious liquids, and the other side branched off into two paths. A sign on one said, "Upper City District A-1", the other one said "Middle District I."

"Which way?" Aika asked, and Vyse shrugged. She turned to Landis. "Well, you _are_ the navigator. Which way, then?"

"Wait, I remember this one," Landis said. "They call the Middle the place where the Coliseum and Army Barracks are, and it's the only place where Upper and Lower Valuans are allowed to mix."

He had barely had time to say that when a roar echoed through the hall. "Uh-oh."

"Let's not stick around to find out what's pissed off," Aika said, jogging forward towards the tunnel that lead towards the Middle. The two men followed her, and again they navigated narrow passages and leaped across the vast ravines of ugly sewage that flowed near them. The hideous odor began to affect them less as they spent more time in the dark, dank place.

Shadowed forms appeared ahead of them in the gloom. They were not human. Approaching them were a pack of rabid creatures that may at one time have been wild animals. The sewers had changed them, mutating the four-legged beasts. Their skin pulsated and glowed green as toxic sludge oozed from their fangs and their hollow eyes bored through them hungrily. They were horrid to look upon.

"Holy shit," Landis exclaimed, taking a step back. "Now I've seen some ugly things, but damn. I mean, come on!"

"Calm down," Vyse said, raising his blades. "We can take them."

"I wouldn't recommend melee attacks, Vyse. Looks like powerful poison…" She thought for a moment, becoming nervous as the beasts stalked in a plodding stride forward. "Wait, I got it!" She dug her gloved hand into a pouch on her belt and retrieved one of the mysterious crystals they had looted from Shrine Island. It's surface shone in the semi-artificial gloom of the sewers.

"What does that do?" The navigator asked, reading his rifle for combat and clicking off the safety lever on the side.

"No clue," She replied, and tossed it at the sewer creatures.

Light and noise overwhelmed her, literally shoving her back onto the uneven stones of the walkway as the ground seemed to shake. Her ears rang intensely, but as it faded she heard Vyse cursing in a manner that was most unbecoming, and sight slowly returned to her. She was staring at the ceiling. Looking down with a shiver, she saw a large crater were the creatures were. Sewage filled in the gap easily since it was the same level as the center canal.

"What the Moons was that?!" Landis demanded in surprise.

"Looked like an Electres Crystal," Vyse replied, rubbing the back of his head tiredly as he sat on the ground. "Powerful. It vaporized those things." He sighed, then looked over at Aika. "You know, I just realized something."

"What's that," Aika said quietly, still recovering.

"We're trapped." He nodded to the hole in the walkway. It was flowing with sewage as deep as the regular path it took, and make the path on the left side of the tunnel impassable.

"Great," Landis said. "Let's just jump for it, I guess. This is the only way forward."

Aika frowned. "Great. This is already disgusting enough for one lifetime." She got to the edge of the jagged crater, and leapt, easily landing on the far side without touching the green liquid. Vyse silently followed, the athletic young man also achieving the feat. Landis was significantly less in-shape, and gulped as he closed with the edge. He leapt, and missed by several inches, landing waist-deep in the most disgusting of liquids possible with a loud splashing noise.

He paused for a moment, closing his eyes in annoyance and disgust as Aika and Vyse suppressed their childish urges to giggle at him. The teenagers leaned over the other side, extending their hands out to help him up. He took them with both of his own hands, and they managed to hoist the portly navigator up.

They all took a moment to sit and rest, then continued onwards. "You know," Vyse noticed. "Unlike most Valuan creations, this is brickwork. I would have thought metal would be a sturdier materiel for their sewers."

"Yeah," Aika agreed. "Even with it's rusting tendency, it's still a lot better for stuff like this…" They came across a large metal bulkhead. It sealed off any further path, the thick Valuan steel warded with protective glyphs and immune to their best efforts to destroy it. Even the sewage filtered through one very small slot in the armor that had five cycling locks. There was no way to proceed.

Aika nodded to them, waving them back down the path. Along the wall was a large stone archway that they had missed completely, marking a side-passage. Runic notes covered the front of the mantle, glowing a faint electrical color as if enchanted. "This is Yellowite," He declared, looking at the inscriptions. "The language of the ancient Yellow Civilization."

"Really," Aika said sarcastically.

"Wait, these weren't originally sewers… they're catacombs," The navigator declared, acting as if he hadn't heard Aika. "Built by the ancient Yellowites an age ago… that means these passages might have artifacts from the Yellow Civilization. Rare ones."

"Rare artifacts? You mean… like treasure?" Aika asked, now seriously interested in this side-passage.

"Possibly," He answered. "So, shall we go for it?"

Vyse shrugged. "We don't have much of a choice now. I'll take the point- I'm the best melee combatant." He raised his blades and walked forward, on guard for more threats or monsters.

0-0

Fina walked, head down, through the bustling crowd. Two plainclothes officers 'escorted' her, pushing her along subtly through the Coliseum's grand vaulted archways and halls. Vendors called out to her for a variety of odd products, snacks, and less savory delights, but she ignored them all. The beautiful girl's eyes were red from crying.

They reached a sealed entrance, and the plainclothes vanished. The Valuan soldiers at the door pulled her in, shutting the bulkhead behind them and taking her up a narrow staircase into the Royal Stands, the highest-elevated seating area. The Valuan Admirals were all there, minus one very downtrodden Alfonso who was packing for his military exile, as well as dozens of the highest-ranking of nobility. Prince Enrique sat to the left of Empress Teodora, and Lord Galcian towered to their right, dwarfing both of them.

All three turned to look as their prisoner was escorted up. She looked devastatingly beautiful in her Valuan dress, but her face was that of untold gloom. She cast a single sideways glance to them, a defeated look on her face. Galcian made no reaction, turning back. The Empress grinned like a predatory bird, sensing she was almost broken. Enrique had pity and sympathy on his face.

The Prince put a gloved hand on her shoulder, and she nodded a little in thankfulness. _In my darkest hour, I still have one friend, I guess. Vyse, Fina… where are you? Why didn't you come?_

Standing in the middle of the large vacated Coliseum, the huge executioner and his two Spelltroopers stood watchfully as the thirty Air Pirates were brought out in irons, escorted by a squad of regular teal-armored troopers. Despite their fate, they looked around at the huge cheering crowds with nothing but proud defiance on their faces_. If we die, we die as men_, they all seemed to think as one. Even Mabel, although she seemed amused at it.

The Executioner looked up at the crowd. "People of Valua! Listen up! These Air Pirates have been tried and convicted in a royal Court of Law of the following offenses…"

Underground the facility, sitting near the ladder that would take them up from above directly into the spotlight and the Coliseum floor, three Air Pirates gasped for breath. "What the hell was that thing?" Coughed Aika, surveying the bile-filled room they were in. Corrosive acids ate away at the brickwork. The large corpse of a bulbous creature laid in the middle of the room. It had small flapping fins and a vaguely pig-like face. It's huge stomach was semi-transparent, revealing floating skeletons and weapons. It was another of the mutated creatures that infested the catacombs.

"I thought that this place just simply couldn't get any more disgusting," Landis whimpered. "I'm covered in this… this stuff. It stings. What the hell are we going to do?"

"I think I can cure that," Aika said, standing up. "Moons, Give Me Strength!" A magical circle of blue power appeared, but it flickered out within moments. "Oh, man. I must have used more strength than I meant to…" They had just fought and killed that gigantic blob of disgusting bile, and Aika had given them heavy spell support. "Got any Blue moonstones?" Vyse tossed her one silently, and she channeled her magic through that, which amplified her remaining power.

Water poured down from an invisible source in the air, washing over them. It was gentle but firm- not an attack spell, but just a summoning of a shower. The acids and fluids all over them were washed away, and by the time it was over, they looked somewhat better. They were now drenched, but it was in magical water that was already beginning to evaporate.

They were dry and relatively clean, looking a little tired and with barely torn clothing and dented weapons. Vyse stood up shakily and sighed. "Whoo," He said. "Now that we're all ready, let's bust this party."

"Yeah," Landis and Aika replied, and they turned to begin climbing up the huge ladder.

The Executioner was winding down his speech, his accent a heavy and gravely noise. "… and twenty counts of Air Piracy in the first degree. For this enormous roll of crimes, these felons have been sentenced by her royal majesty the supreme empress of all the Valuan Empire Teodora to die." He turned to the first prisoner in line, Dyne himself. "Dyne, the Blue Storm. First in command of your rogue band, and the first to die."

A steel manhole in the middle of the field shuddered and started to slide to the side. Vyse climbed up, standing and drawing his weapons. The crowd began to roar as they saw that, and Aika and Landis appeared, also with their ranged weapons at the ready. The spotlights all turned towards the three pirates.

Fina stood up in shock. "Vyse!" Enrique smirked. The Prince had been worried that they had been too late, but now his fears had been allayed. So, this is the illustrious Vyse. Teodora gasped in disbelief, and Galcian scowled. The nobles and Admirals talked excitedly amongst themselves.

Dyne moved quickly. Taking advantage of the momentary spectacle, he crashed physically into one of the spelltroopers, rocking him back. Seizing his staff he channeled his magical knowledge. "Moons, Give Me Strength!" Ethereal cords appeared, a spider web in the sky as everyone was stunned by bright white light. Eterni was a spell of the Silver domain, which was life and death. It killed a single living target instantly.

The web descended from the sky, and landed in lattices of light around the huge Executioner. He shuddered, gasped and dropped his huge metal scythe, kneeling and falling with a heavy thump. He was dead.

"Blue Rogues, take em down," He commanded, turning and leveling the stolen staff. The prisoners crashed into the outnumbered Valuans, taking a key from their sergeant and unlocking the chains on each person, who started to fight with the squad of guards who tried to rally back. Vyse and Aika joined the fight, further evening the odds. Landis took careful aim at the other spelltrooper, who was starting to chant, and shot him in the face. The bullet was deflected by his helmet, but it was dented inwards and the man fell off the guillotine platform from the force of it.

Briggs ran over, helping Dyne beat the Valuan mage into unconsciousness. Having eliminated the most powerful threats, they went back and helped their men. By now the brawl was winding down, and the remaining Valuans were disabled. Luke the Raider had been wounded by a guard's blade, and clutched his arm. Aika tossed him a Sacri crystal, and the red-dressed pirate teen grinned. "Thanks."

"Hey, just paying what's due," She answered. "Sorry we could be here sooner, Cap'n."

Dyne grinned. "Late as usual. I'm just glad you got here- another minute and you'd have found me a grave man."

The Empress stood, livid with fury. One of the lights focused on the old woman as she waved her scepter wildly. Enrique ducked and Galcian scooted away about a meter from the eccentric monarch. "Guards, shoot them! Shoot them all down! _Kill them_!" She screeched, and appearing in the rows were over a hundred Valuan soldiers. They all carried automatic carbines, and leveled them, powering up. The entire stadium glowed with the light from their guns.

Vyse looked to Aika. "Why does this feel really familiar," He said with a sigh, then a thought struck him. "Aika, the Electres crystals. Toss them into the sky." She complied without thought, throwing up the sack of the eleven remaining crystals. "Dad! Hit the bag!" Dyne took aim at where the bag would be in a moment, and chanted Electres himself. A bolt of lightning connected the spelltrooper staff and the bag.

This sparked off all eleven of the bomb-like crystals.

Everything went white for over three minutes. Everyone fell, writhing as all their senses were overwhelmed completely. A column of pure electricity spiked up into the clouds, visible throughout the city. Secondary steams of natural lightning spiked out like tributary rivers, adding fuel to the inferno of ionized power.

The _Little Jack_ was floating in the middle of the city, and her Captain easily spotted such an amazing display. The crusty old man at the helm chuckled slightly to himself. _Nice flair in that flare, boy. Guess I'd better get a move on. _He shoved the throttle forward, bringing the ship forwards towards a very certain point below the Coliseum.

When this titanic power surge was finally over, Enrique rubbed his eyes, timidly looking around. "Fina? Are you ok?" He asked. She was clinging to him, and his cheeks tinged slightly red. "Err… Fina?"

Fina shook her own head to clear it, and looked up. She was very close to Enrique. Realizing this, she detached, immediately pulling back in embarrassment.

"_They're gone_!" Teodora's observation broke their awkward moment. Indeed- the blast had melted the entire ground of the Coliseum into a tar-like molten slag, and liquefied the prone bodies of the Valuan troopers. There was absolutely no sign that the pirates existed, not even ash or cinder.

"No…" Fina said, shaking her head and coming to the only possible conclusion. "No, Moons, no… they're… they're …" She couldn't bring herself to say it. Enrique put a comforting arm around her while Teodora cackled madly in delight.

Abel the Gunner made sure the hatch was sealed, and then slid down the ladder much like how Vyse had done back on Pirate Isle, days and a lifetime ago. The bald man said, "Holy shit. That was… that was just amazing, Vyse."

"Yeah," Briggs nodded. Even his usually stoic complexion was beaming. "Even the smell down here is tolerable. Good job, Vyse." The rest of the crew chimed in with their own positive opinions, agreeing with their Vice Captain.

The teenager practically shone with his pride, and turned to his dad. Dyne chuckled, crossing his arms. "Son, you've made me proud. You've accomplished what no one ever has- we have just escaped the Valuans." He turned to the festering corpse of the blob-monster. "What the Hell is that." Vyse shrugged helplessly.

"Hey, where's Fina?" He asked, suddenly examining everyone in the room. She wasn't to be found. He looked down. "She was with the Empress, wasn't she." Dyne nodded. "… Fuck."


	10. Friendship

Chapter Ten- Friendship

"You know, you might still be really dumb, but I gotta hand it to you. You're brave." The Pirates all looked around as the familiar young voice echoed in the catacomb chamber. Vyse glanced over and saw a squat humanoid figure forming in the gloom ahead.

"Marco?" He said, surprised. "Why did you follow us?"

"You wanted me to see something," The kid replied with a noncommittal shrug. "And I got nothing better to do. I know a side-passage leading to the Coliseum docks- they'll never expect you that way. Your smelly fishing ship is out there waiting for you all."

"Why are you helping us?" Vyse asked.

Marco gave another shrug. "I don't know, myself."

"The Fortress is going to close any minute," Aika interjected, explaining the entire dire situation. "If they've moved Fina into the Royal Palace we'll never get her out, Vyse. We're running out of time!"

"We can't just leave Fina," Vyse growled. "Not after we're so close. Not after we've come so far." He balled his fist and sighed.

"Actually, our time limit just got an extension," Dyne declared. "Apparently, you didn't know, but I have it on good authority that the Fortress is going to remain open for a solid while. Vyse, Aika. I have a mission for you. Retrieve the last member of our crew." He smirked.

Vyse chuckled. "Aye, Captain. Marco, which way leads to the Upper City?" Marco replied by nodding his head to one side of the crisscrossing tunnels. "Alright. Landis, Marco, you take everyone to the _Little Jack_. Tell the Captain we'll meet up with him after we've got Fina!" With that he ran off, Aika following closely. Their footfalls soon died out into the distance.

Marco said, "Is he always like this?"

"Pretty much," Briggs replied, the wiry Vice Captain smirking. "Moons protect that boy. And us, for that matter."

"Let's get moving," The boy said, and turning. "Stay close. It's pretty hard to see in these tunnels. They've been around since the times of the old world, so they're uneven, unlit, and prone to having large holes into open sky." The crew, now reunited finally, followed their urban guide.

Most of the Blue Rogues were in quite a jovial mood, having been literally whisked from the chopping block to freedom. They were recounting their most recent fight, who they punched or let free and therefore owed them a round of Loqua, how amazed and proud they were of Vyse and Aika, or how bright 12 Electres spells really could be. Dyne nodded and praised each of his crew for their accomplishments, when he noticed Landis was very quiet, walking in the back of the group.

"Landis," He called out, dropping pace to fall in step with the portly man. "Why aren't you joining in? We misfit rogues have once again escaped the hangman's noose by that much."

"Sir," He said quietly, shaking his head. "I'm sorry."

"Hm?" Dyne was confused. "What do you mean? You helped rescue us. What kind of a leader would I be if I didn't reward you for that? I'm thinking of making you Vice Captain."

"Hey," Briggs complained, falling in to the other side with a good-natured complaint. "'s my job you lot are picking at."

"I ran and hid," Landis explained, head bowed. "I just couldn't handle it… all the noise… people screaming, buildings toppling with ungodly flames… I just cowered in some corner. Some Valuans found me, but they let me stay in that corner, curled up into a ball. They laughed at me. Spat on me."

Dyne was silent for several seconds, thinking. "Landis… you couldn't have done anything. That was an entire Fleet bombarding us. One more man wouldn't make any difference. And without your help Vyse and Aika might not have made it."

"I laid injured for most of our journey," He replied. "My best skills weren't of any use."

"Just listen," He said in a firm, yet conciliatory, manner. "Any reason you might have for shame at breaking down in a moment of crisis is too far overshadowed by your rescue of your entire crew, your critical part in the reason I can even tell you this, that it's not even worth considering. I know you're looking for me to punish you. Know I won't do it. Make what you will of it, and think it over." He nodded, and then left Landis.

Landis thought it over.

0-0

Teodora was having an excellent day- word of new conquests on the so-called Lost Continent of Ixa'Taka by that mad butcher DeLoco, finalizing plans for her son's new prototype _Delphinus_-class battlecruiser, and now this obliteration of a band of pirates.

Everything was going according to her design- by the time her son inherited Valua it would be thrice it's present size, and she had no doubt he would grow out of his foolish softness in time to be a truly great monarch.

That fool girl was nearly broken. Galcien's crude yet direct methods, she sensed, wouldn't work as good as emotional control to compel the Silvite's obedience. Her will for her mission was strong, but even the strongest warriors could be broken by going after their heart and their soul. The loss of the only Arcadians who seemed to care about her besides her son was really getting to Fina. She laid sobbing the Prince's side, his inane protective instincts making him futilely try to comfort her. They were all in the Royal Car, inside the pampered purple surface and in rich throne-like seats in the First Passenger Bay.

_Giving aid and comfort to the enemy…_ she growled. That was the textbook definition of treason. _I won't raise a traitorous son. And I can remove the last light from her bleak, lonely existence at the same time… _She had a plan.

"Galcian! Stop the car at the next junction!" She commanded imperiously. Without question he obeyed, standing and walking calmly into the pilothouse. Fina didn't hear this, too consumed with her own sobbing, but Enrique perked up. _Mother, you wouldn't…_

The car began to slow, but Upper City was still alongside the car, the glittering, well lit streets filled with generously clothed and distinguished noble Valuans. _You would_, he concluded sardonically, deducing her plan quickly. _Oh, mother…_

Sliding to a stop, the sleek and small Royal Car came into the railcar junction alongside a more common, longer red tram. The technology for this strange, bug-looking steel method of transit was largely based, like all Valua, on the precious electrical power inherent in all things relating to the Yellow Moon that orbited the bleak Arcadian skies above.

Galcian appeared back into he passenger bay, and bowed. "Your orders, Empress?" Even bowed, he still towered ominously in spirit over everyone.

Everyone, as a matter of course, besides Teodora, who simply nodded in self-satisfaction. "Take this prisoner onto the other car and wait several minutes, then transport her to the Palace and personally escort her to The Jails under." The highest military commander in Valua bowed to his monarch, then turned his arctic gaze to the devastated Silvite.

"N-no," She wailed, clinging desperately to the Prince. Enrique was already blushing as the beautiful girl clung to him tightly, and was actually enjoying it a little.

Teodora was not. "Enrique!" She snapped, for the second time, "Get away from that girl!"

The blonde-haired teenager sighed elegantly. _It's not even my fault this time, mother…_ He looked into the sobbing eyes of Fina. "It'll be okay," He said softly, stroking her hair gently. "Do what they want for now. I have another plan. Alright?" She eventually nodded, and detached from it. Galcian never touched her, but his presence made all the haste she needed to quickly go out the exit-ramp onto the boarding platform.

She trudged onto the metal, her Valuan leather boots making a soft clopping noise. Casting her glance back, she saw that the royal car was already in motion, rocketing off down the single electrified rail that it was propelled on.

"My Lord," One of Galcien's aides-de-camp, a soldier in pure-gold command armor, jogged up to him. "Thank the Moons I was able to catch up with you." The man was slightly on the portly side, and wheezed before catching his breath to continue. "Those pirates aren't dead, sire. In fact, we have discovered that two teenagers are headed this way! They're after the girl."

Galcian said nothing, but Fina's spirit skyrocketed. Her large, beautiful eyes opened wide and she grinned. "Vyse and Fina…"

"Major, prepare the car and bring some Marines with you." He turned to glare at the seemingly never-ending railcar. "We shall lay a trap and eliminate these fools from the world once and for all." Fina suddenly had a highly ominous feeling, sensing with her magical acuity the depth of the man's power.

"By your order, my lord!" He declared, snapping off a crisp salute and dashing onto the car, gasping for breaths.

A block away and ten meters down, the 'fools' ran across the sewer walkway, towards the large metallic ladder directly ahead of them that would lead them into the heart of Upper City. Hopefully a train junction was near where they could hijack a ride into the Royal Palace.

Vyse skid to a halt, his boots finding good traction on the rough cobblestones. He put his boot onto the first rung of the ladder and hoisted himself up, when Marco's voice once again interrupted him. "Vyse!"

_Man, that boy sure gets around_, Aika thought with a snort before replying. "Marco? What is it, what's wrong?"

He stopped before them, and Vyse fell back to the ground, paying his full attention to the young Lower City Valuan. He was shocked to see that Marco looked uncertain, even sad. It wasn't shocking that the young boy felt such things, but rather that he would drop his façade and allow others to see it. Something was wrong indeed. "Are you… are you really going up there?" He asked, pointing to the ladder. "Are you really going to try and escape Valua?"

"Yes," They replied as one. Blue Rogue determination still filled their veins.

"No…" He said, wiping his tear-strewn face on his dirty sleeve, "No… Please, don't do it! You'll get killed this time, I just know you will…" He suddenly flung himself at both of them, and Aika caught him in a motherly hug. The fiery redhead with a fierce warrior, but she also had a compassionate side.

"Shh," She said quietly. "It's alright, Marco. We have to do this." Vyse nodded his assent.

"My mom and dad were _killed_ trying to escape," He wailed, crying even more now as he cling to Aika. "The Grand Fortress _can't_ be escaped! It's designed to keep everything in, and it's just impossible to get out! Impossible! I don't want you to die like my parents did!"

Vyse felt grief and pity wash over him. _He's still so young. He has to live in the squalor of the Lower City, and his parents… murdered… that explains why he feels like he has to keep everything inside… _He knew personally what it felt like to seemingly loose a father. "I'm really sorry about your parents, Marco."

"Now that you know, you _have_ to give up," He beseeched. "Please…"

"Our friend is counting on us," Vyse said, clenching his fists in solidarity and looking up towards the sealed manhole. "She's alone and helpless, at the… _tender mercies_ of the Valuan Empress. I can't abandon her to such a fate."

"Neither can I," Aika added, managing a grim smile. "We're Blue Rogues, and we never ever give up, Marco. Impossible…"

" 'is just a word that people use to make themselves feel better when they quit'," Vyse finishing, chuckling and crossing his arms, looking Marco right in the eye. "The Valuans rule by fear, crushing everyone's spirits down until they give up hope. They know that you can't conquer a free man. You can kill him, but as long as he has his hope and his liberty, you will never stop him. And the skies are limitless."

He stepped closer, kneeling down to his level. "I'm going to make it, either way. Even if the Valuans do kill me, I will die a free man, and I will never let my friend go into darkness without a mighty fight."

Marco processed this relatively short sermon, and sighed. "Vyse… do you… think I could ever be a sailor, one day?"

"Anything's possible," The teenager replied, climbing back onto the ladder and starting up. "You'd do just fine, I think. I'll be waiting for you, amongst the clouds."

"Right," The young kid grinned and nodded. "Moons look over you, Vyse, Aika."

"And you," Aika said, following Vyse up the ladder.

The manhole slid open fairly easily, and both of the air pirates climbed up, hastily sealing it back in it's proper place. They were in a fairly darkened back-alley, so no one in particular noticed their odd entrance.

Upper City was aptly named. It was the polar opposite of everything that the Lower City was or did- a model of riches. The streets were literally paved in gold, the buildings stretched into the horizon with multicolored lights, the streetlights cast a constant and calming illumination onto the prosperous and clean lanes. The people wore a variety of rich fabrics and styles of dress, and many were obese simply from the plentiful diets they gorged upon. Everyone was wealthy and content, and not a single care seemed to dilute the utopia.

It made Vyse physically ill. He would have rather been in the Lower City, because with each sign he saw, simply walking down the street, of the greatness of this half, his mind brought to bear opposite, gruesome, renditions. It was like a demented urban mirror.

_If ignorance is bliss, no wonder these people are so happy and well-to-do,_ He thought to himself darkly. One time as they passed a group of fat ladies, he heard a high Valuan accent say, "I don't know _what_ those Lower City denizens have to complain about, I mean _really_. The conditions can't be a _tenth_ as bad as they say, and even if they were- _we're_ still much worse off. _So_ many parties, so many plays…"

"It's a wonder we even have the time to sit here and talk, munching on imported, of course, cuisine," Another one interjected.

"If only you cows knew," Vyse distinctly heard Aika say covertly, under her breath. No wonder she was thinking along the same tack that he was.

They passed a courtyard and a hilly park area, lush with exotic greenery and frolicking, well dressed and portly little children. One child offered him a lollipop, a portly red-haired freckled child whose blank stare and easy demeanor seemed to make him Marco's other half in this mirror-world.

"No thank you," Aika replied pleasantly. "We wouldn't want to take your lollipop."

"Oh, it's quite alright," He assured them in royally pinched tones, "I've got five more on me." _Even the kids here own a lot more property than the richest Lower City men…_ Vyse again politely declined, moving faster and faster as his displeasure with the Upper City grew.

They reached the crest of another hill, and the rails came into sight. A track of long, smooth and electrified steel, they were the basis for the Valuan train technology, and Vyse knew that to see them, one must have been near. Sure enough, directly ahead of them was a tram station, which jutted off the side of the cliff, suspended by the tracks themselves and many steel support bracers to either side of the spacious building. A long red box-like vehicle waited, perched on the rails, inside the junction.

"It looks even weirder than the Cap'n described it as," Aika said, squinting. "Looks like some kinda huge, fiery bug."

Vyse nodded. "You're telling me. I can't believe people get around in those…" His voice trailed off as he used his skyglass to magnify his view to twice it's normal acuity and range. He leapt back, startled again. "Holy crap!" Another moonfish had appeared. The covert creature was hovering so close to his face, if he had taken another step forward before stopping he might have bumped into it.

"What?" Aika asked, hand going to her boomerang's smooth leather grip instantly, ready for trouble in this foreign land.

Vyse sighed in relief and exasperation. "Don't worry, just another moonfish." He drew his capture device, this time obtaining the creature with his first shot. The fish struggled against the bio-goo, although it was useless and he was soon reeled into the weapon's storage tank. _Maybe that was just my imagination, but even that moonfish looked bigger than the one we found on the_ Little Jack… Chuckling quietly to himself, he raised his skyglass again.

He gasped again, but this time the surprise was of a much more relevant sort for their quest. Fina was being led onto the railcar, flanked by two regular teal-armored troopers. _She isn't in the Palace yet…_ "Aika, that car's got Fina on it! I just saw her walk in!"

"You see anything else? Like Marines, or any other powerful bad guys?" She asked, sighing. _It might be a trap, but we don't have much choice. We've gotta board that thing._

"Nah. Just some regulars, I'd say about a squad's worth, following her into the train. Of course, that doesn't mean we can tell if anyone got on before that, but…" He trailed off again, this time because he was running forward. Aika started after him, and in the distance the hum of a charging engine core could be clearly distinguished from the regular Upper City background noise.

They reached the very rear of the train, and without the slightest hesitation or show of concern for his own wellbeing, he leapt up to crouch on the metal fence that barred the cliff, and spring-boarded into the air. He landed smoothly on the roof with a slight thump. _This ain't half as hard as that Alfonso's flagship was._

Aika followed right behind him, also smoothly making the metal her home. "I'm starting to think that you enjoy jumping long distances a little too much. You could just attach an elastic band to your waist, and you might make some kinda new sport."

Vyse chuckled. "Good idea. I'll match you a set for that after we get out of Valua." A shudder ran through the vehicle as it's engines spun up, pumping electricity throughout the connected car. Other than that, there was seemingly no change as the car began to accelerate. It pulled out of the junction, sliding along on the rail.

From here all of the Valuan City was visible, including the huge and well-lit Palace and Lower City. The band of light was significantly dimmer, only in patches truly bright, which was yet another vile contrast from their view of this side from the other, which appeared a solid band of proud and healthy light.

"We'd better get moving," He advised, and she nodded. Somehow, the Valuans knew how to generate weak, partial magnetic shells around the vehicles, which reduced wind friction immensely. He barely felt a breeze, although he knew they were going along at what must have been a hundred kilometers an hour.

They traveled along the spine of the vessel, every fifty meters crossing the short divide between the rumbling sections. As they were crossing the third car on the long train, three hatches opened ahead of them. Valuan troopers leaned out, Yellow Moonstone carbines charging up power for a strike.

"Duck!" He commanded, and she did so. With crackling reports, three bullets sliced through the air inches above the crouching forms of the teenagers. They left ionized trails in their air from their electricity, which replaced gunpowder as the accelerant.

"Now!" The drawback of a firearm was that it needed to reload after every shot- even the newest, semi-automatic guns couldn't shoot more than four bullets before overheating, and their enemies wielded common bolt-action weapons. They scrambled to shove new clips into their guns as the pirates charged for them.

"Moons," Aika chanted. "Give Me Strength! Under The Darkened Skies Of Your Domain, Grant Me The Power To Smite My Foes! Yellow Moon, Empower Me!" The chant allowed her to rapid-fire her most basic Yellow spell. It was Electri, which hurled a basic bolt of lightning. That would answer. "Take this, this, and _THIS_, slimeballs!"

The sky sparked and was enveloped in yellow light. Her return shot, a two-meter long shard of pure energy, sprung forward. It struck the first enemy in the helmet. Their armor conducted the power, and he fell, twitching uncontrollably. The second hit the next man's shoulder, inducing the same effects, but the soldier which the last bolt sought ducked a moment before they were hit.

He popped up and fired again. Aika hadn't been moving, keeping still to focus her will on her magics, and therefore couldn't have dodged in time. "No!" Vyse screamed, watching the metal round as if it were in slow-motion.

The bullet hit her shoulder, imbedding into it. The electrical enchantment of the gun knocked her to the ground and she twitched a little, clutching her wound. Blood began to pour immediately.

"Wind Attack!" He decapitated the last man, the intense power of Vyse's emotions fueling his ranged counterattack. Having eliminated the immediate threat, he turned to her. "Aika, are you alright?"

She nodded quietly. "I don't think the wound is too deep… Vyse, do you know Sacri?" He gulped and nodded. "Cast it now. It'll dissolve the bullet and stop the bleeding, then we can keep going." She managed a painted smile and a shivering thumbs-up. The girl was in intense pain, but keeping a tight reign on how much she showed of it.

Vyse sighed. "Here we go." Unlike Aika, the young man had only memorized the most base of spells. Even he, of course, knew the first spell in the Green Domain- every air pirate ever born had learned that simple healing prayer, but he usually relied on crystals or another crewmate, such as Aika, for that. He also had much less experience. His resolve flickered for a moment. _Aika and Fina are both counting on me. It doesn't matter weither_ _I_ can. _I_ will.

"Moons," He said, his lower voice full of emotional investment, "Give Me Strength!" He knelt, laying hands on his lifetime friend and focus of his intense love and affections. Green light surrounded them, and sparks flashed across the air. The spell was working, and then something odd happened. He felt… more empowered than usual. The form of a mystical bird, the phoenix, appeared in solid green energy, hovering over them. Each beat of it's wings bestowed more healing power into the spell, and soon the light was blinding. _What the Hells… at least it's helping us!_

The wound vanished completely, and as the light finally died down, not even a scar was visible. She ran a gloved hand over it, shocked. "Magic is fueled by our mental power and our feelings," She said, breathlessly. "Vyse…"

"It's because I really care for you," He admitted, running a hand over her cheek gently.

"Yeah," She agreed. "Thanks, Vyse…" _Thanks for everything… _They quickly got over their moment, remembering their urgent mission and getting back to their feet. No more Valuans had appeared, and so they continued on.

Inside the very rear car, Lord Galcian opened his eyes, covered in his expansive black cloak that seemed as dark as night. His enormous weapon was in his arms, and seemed almost as big as he was. He cracked a slight grin. That was more fearsome to look at than the glower of the most terrifying man in Arcadia.

"Vyse," Aika said, looking back as the winds picked up slightly. A hatch in the rear, where they had started off, opened up. Out of it emerged a very big, very angry looking man. He appeared middle-aged, but the eyes were the real catch. She gasped just looking at them. From several cars up she sensed his enormous power, and the gigantic lance he wielded with ease didn't help that appearance.

He looked back, and frowned. "Oh, great. Is this another Admiral guy or something?" A pang of unbidden fear entered his mind as his memory struck. _This man was sitting next to Empress Teodora. That can only mean that he is the dreaded…_ "Lord Galcian," He declared, scowling. "Aika, something tells me we can't take this guy."

"Agreed," She answered after a heartbeat. She shed his cloak, the huge black cloth flapping into the wind and flying backwards quickly, revealing his regal and noble uniform over a suit of functional armor. He swung his lance into a one-handed battle stance and started walking towards them calm. Deadly calm.

They responded by bolting. They ran as quickly as possible, towards the front of the car where Fina would logically be located. Galcian followed, never picking up their pace, always simply walking as he allowed himself to loose more and more ground to the pirates.

0-0

Fina preferred to stand- her two guards, heavily armored Valuan Marines with gruff voices and a severe shortage of intelligence, had allowed her to, standing to either side of her with their own electrified charges casting a yellow sheen onto the metal interior of the passenger bay. Her hands were bound securely behind her, and her dress was slightly mussed up.

She had heard gunfire coming from the roof, and perked up._ That can only mean one thing_. She grinned in a way she hadn't for a while.

After the shots, all was unnaturally quiet for a minute or two. She strained her ears for any more indications of what was happening, and was beginning to worry herself when the door to their car flew open, blasted by a Red Moonstone explosion. The smoke gradually cleared, revealing Vyse and Aika, with weapons drawn, standing before the Marines.

"Wh-who are you?" Demanded one of the Marines dumbly, pivoting his lance into a battle position. "You them Air Pirates?"

"Hi," Vyse said in a tone that left no room for nonsense, "I'm Vyse Dyne, and I'm the one who's gonna kick your ass. How's it going." He didn't even give them a chance to react, crying out in rage. "Ha! Cutlass Fury!" With blades of glowing blue he charged, landing dozens of strikes at nearly the speed of light. The Marine under attack had no way to evade, and the energy sparked off dozens of explosions that engulfed him and melted his heavy armor off of his skin.

The other Marine dumbly turned, but a purple moonstone dinged lightly as it bounced off his helmet. "Huh?" Aika sighed. _A dud?! That impact should have frozen that soldier solid._

Vyse landed his final blow on the neck, and the man fell back, dropping to the ground. He growled victoriously and turned to the other enemy, who was trying to close with Aika. Aika raised her boomerang to counter, but that man's spear and strength overcame her guard. She was tossed into the wall and he chuckled, gathering power for an Electri attack from the weapon.

Taking the advantage of attacking from behind, he used his first cutlass to stab directly through the small gap in the armor between helmet and chest-plating, in the neck. The large blade ripped through skin, and a fountain of blood appeared as the man gurgled, clutching his neck for less than a second before he limply fell. The lance misfired, melting a seat to the side.

"You girls alright?" He asked to both of them, holstering his pirate blades. Aika got up and nodded. Fina seemed a little surprised, though.

"You… actually came for me," She said timidly, cheeks tinged red. "I mean… why?"

"You're our friend," Vyse said, smiling charismatically and rummaging in the pouches of both Marines. He found the key for her irons, and began to unlock her expertly. Most Blue Rogues also knew how to unlock irons; another useful skill. "We couldn't just leave ya."

"Yeah, we care," Aika said, hugging Fina fiercely. Vyse joined in from behind, making a sandwich-hug.

"I-I didn't expect…" She sputtered and faltered, just enjoying the warm, secure feeling.

Vyse smirked. "Well, now that we've got you all rescued, we can finally get the hell… out… of here…"

Lord Galcian stood in the destroyed doorway, staring all of them down with a cold and murderous intent. "Well, well," He said, his voice sending shivers down everyone's spines, "These are the meddlesome pirates my men have had so much trouble with. You don't look so impressive."

Vyse growled but said nothing, hands going his cutlass' hilts. Aika raised her boomerang menacingly. Fina gasped, her hands going to her mouth timidly.

"I'll make you a deal. I will spare your life, and that of the red-head, if you surrender the Silvite to me," He said, crossing his broad arms over his broader chest plate. "If you do not, you will die and you will do so in pain."

Vyse didn't need any time to think it over. "That deal's not going to happen, Galcian!" He spat the name of his assailant like it was a disgusting word. "You're going to have to go through us to get to our friend!" Fina looked over to Vyse, gratefully beaming at his heroic stance. Vyse himself wasn't altogether sure they could win against him, but he did know we wouldn't surrender now.

"As you wish." He swung his gigantic weapon, preparing for battle. Vyse drew his blades, and was about to charge directly for him when the wall between them exploded.

A cannonball blew through the metal wall with an explosion, ripping open a huge, jagged hole of red-hot metal out into the open air. The ball, whose kinetic energy was all but spent, dented the other wall then dropped to an unceremonious stop onto the floor. All eyes looked to the wall, where the fishing sloop _Little Jack_ was hovering, keeping perfect pace with the railcar, and with a smoking black cannon sitting by three others on the green wooden-plated hull.

"Hit it again," Dyne bellowed. "Sever the cars, Mabel!" Mabel, who led the Blue Storm gunnery crew who manned the portside battery, nodded. Another of the guns spoke. This time the shot flew perfectly through the first hole, tearing through the other wall. "And again!" This ball ripped into the roof, peeling it like a tin-foil ration container. Dyne was about to order the last cannon to shoot, when he noticed it wouldn't be needed.

The car groaned and shook as it's structural integrity was threatened. The metal bindings on the floor holding the two cars together were suddenly under tremendous stresses, and the metal warped out of place. Finally the bolts securing them snapped, and the two cars flew apart. Their speeds began to vary more and more as the engines, in the front of the tram, kept up the pirate's section's speed, but Galcien's longer part had no more propulsion, and the friction with the rails began to slow them down.

He glared silently as he watched the pirates escape onto a rope-ladder extended over the side of the unknown ship. _Teodora won't be amused. I'll need to distract her with something else,_ He mused. It was supposed to be a simple maneuver to break Fina's willpower a little more, but it had turned into a pure catastrophe. _Fate once again spits on me. I must return the favor._

Vyse emerged onto the deck of the Little Jack, and whooped. "Wahoo! Yeah! I can't believe it, we did it!" He turned to his father, who was on the bridge, and gave a thumbs-up. "Nice save, Dad!"

"Just returning the favor, son," Dyne replied. "And don't call me 'dad' when we're-"

"-in hostile territory, yeah, yeah." He went to the ladder and helped Aika and Fina onto the deck. They were also both in good cheer.

Briggs said, "So, any other reasons to stick around in this gloomy, Moons-forsaken rock pile of filth and ethical decay?" He was manning the helm, expertly nursing the wheel to keep his course alongside the now severed train.

"Nope," Aika chirped.

Dyne said, "Alright, Briggs. Let's get the hell out of here." The Vice Captain acknowledged this by spinning the wheel. The bow of the old ship, tipped by the impressive new Harpoon Cannon, responded with ease. "These new engine modifications are great, Drachma." The old man acknowledged the compliment with a simple nod, standing on the bridge as always.

The Grand Fortress was now in the center of their sight, and the _Little Jack_ increased speed. It was still open- the mighty portal that was the only way in or out of the aerial city stood disabled, the Prince's saboteurs giving them the two minutes they needed to cross the expansive gulf of sky between the city and the great fortifications.

"Captain, multiple hostiles spotted in the tunnel!" The lookout had a looking glass pressed to his face while he leaned over the railing of the main deck.

"What is the count? This could be trouble," Vyse asked, remembering the large garrison fleet they had seen on their way into Valua.

"I say… ten Gunboats and two Merrimac corvettes," He replied. The Merrimacs were lighter and cheaper versions of the gunboats, patrol and recon ships outfitted with only two main cannons and a set of machine-guns out the sides of their lightly armored decks.

"We can outrun everything they've got," Briggs said. "On the contrary, I wouldn't recommend slugging it out with ten enemy capitol ships in this. No offense Drachma but it's a little on the light side."

"None taken," The fisherman retorted. "Push the throttle to it's highest setting. Girls, get down to the engine room and start casting all your Blue and Purple spells. If this works we can overload the _Little Jack_ by 250 percent and zoom past those bastards." Fina and Aika nodded, dashing into the deck. The redhead warned her to steel herself.

"I can do magic," Fina assured Aika with a remarkable amount of determination. Then the smell hit her, and she reeled and gagged. The determination faltered immediately as sky-fish of a thousand varieties intruded on her delicate senses.

"I meant steel yourself for the smell," Aika said dully, then got to the old engine, which was still noisily beating along at it's consistent pace. "Looks fine to me." Then she saw that the metallic casing was beginning to glow an angry red. "Uh-oh. Moons, Give Me Strength!"

Briggs said, "Everyone get below the decks. We are passing two-hundred KPH, and the winds won't be very healthy for any of ya'll." The pirates quickly complied, and Vyse found a comfortable perch sitting on the railing to the stairs leading below decks. The deckplates shivered ominously, but Drachma had gotten special flex-steel reinforcements on all joints of the ship for just this sort of high-speeds maneuvering. Dyne, Landis, and Drachma joined him, and it almost seemed like old times to the Blue Storm.

They neared the opening to the tunnel, barreling straight forward. The Valuan ships spotted the relatively small fishing ship, and started to turn slowly towards them, their bulk making them quite unwieldy. Cannons spoke out, but at this range the enemy had no hope of accuracy. Briggs easily dodged each shot as it came in, the balls rushing past them in flashes of pure-black against the dull-grey of the sky.

"You'll have to do better than that, Imperial dogs," He whispered to himself, slapping the wheel to avoid another salvo. They passed the tightly-packed Valuan formation within moments, like a flash of lightning over the tunnel.

The opening at the other end began to slide forward. Vyse said, "Looks like our luck's running thin!" He pointed forward and Dyne nodded in agreement. "Floor it, Briggs!"

With increasingly accurate fire, the defenders of the tunnels gunned their engines for a chase, slowly accelerating while their gunners began to range on the _Little Jack_. They switched to concussion shells, betting that the older vessel's structural integrity wouldn't hold up the rigors of high speeds and the rattling of their cannonade.

They would be out of effective range of the gunboats in about a minute. That knowledge didn't assuage the suffering of those onboard the ship, as Valuan concussion balls rattled them and shook them like a baby's rattle. Aika and Fina managed to keep up their spells, but by now they were starting to tire and the desperate tossing of the floor brought the red-headed pirate very close to vomiting.

One shot ripped into the sails, the cloth carrying the waves of shock-force before it was ripped to shreds. The mast rumbled and groaned like a tree in intense winds and the ship began to drift on random vectors. Briggs managed to keep them relatively pointed forward.

They were approaching the opening, that slid with agonizing slowness to block their only escape from certain death. Briggs leaned forward to the wheel, ignoring the rocking around him and focusing on milking each and every ounce of power from their rescue ship. Suddenly they were through, with a mighty crackle of wood and steel, and the portal closed behind them fully a moment later. The maneuvering fins weren't responsive, and a quick look told him why. The fins had been ripped off, and the main hull had only fit by centimeters at that.

Still, they were away. The fishing sloop shot through the sky, away from the now impregnable Grand Fortress. The outer fleet and artillery on the floating rocks weren't alerted in time, and simply watched the little ship escape.

Vyse paused a moment, mind struggling to process the impossible. _We did it. We won… everyone's free, and we escaped Valua_. "We beat the Valuans! Yeah!" Everyone joined in a spontaneous three-cheers, and they charted a course due South.


	11. Postlude & The New Mission

Chapter Eleven- Postlude/The New Mission

Before the final chapter, I wanted to get my gabbing out of the way. First, and most important of all to me, I want to thank all my reviewers- Lord Elecian, Cloud-821, Desert Lynx, ar-ranma, Arcon1, tony, and TheJesusGoatMan (listed in the order they first reviewed)- without all of your support and feedback, I might not have finished. As I always say- reviews are like crack for an aspiring author, and my incredible pace of updates should reflect this. Also, anyone who author/story alerted Strange Clothes, or just simply to anyone reading this. Review in the future, dangit! XP

My future plans- I'm going to chronicle all of Skies Of Arcadia: Legends. I will be dividing the epic into 'books', such as this one. If you'd like, consider Strange Clothes merely a prologue for the Skies Of Arcadia Series. .

Notification- the story will be FinaxAikaxVyse. Yes, he gets both of them, and they will all love each other. My aim is to open people's minds a bit to non-'traditional' and unauthorized love. It just seems to me to fit so well. ) Other pairings will come as they go, but I'll try and stick with the cannon for most of them.

Um… yeah. I guess that's all. Thank you for reading this, and when I put up the next book, make sure to Alert and/or read that one too. –bows- Arigato, mi Amigos.

Final Chapter Starts Now!

0-0

"…that's when we told him about the Harpoon Cannon, and wouldn't you know it, he suddenly became a lot more willing to assist us to your rescue." Sailor's Island seemed more astounding since the last time they were there, although perhaps it was just because Vyse had defeated an infamous black pirate and escaped Valuan clutches, making the history books already. It was noon, the sun was up, and a pleasant breeze blew from the West.

Aika, Fina and Vyse were walking down the street, relaxing and talking. The two pirates were taking turns relaying the saga of their winding adventures since they were separated. They had no need for sleep- they had grabbed plenty of rest on the ten-hour journey from Valua, which proved infinitely more peaceful than their stay in the imperial city.

Fina giggled. "Drachma seems very… determined."

"Determined, you say!" Vyse said, staring into the clear blue skies and dramatically batting a chocolate-colored bang on hair from his eyes. "Like a dyslexic Looper on moondust, say I!" The girls giggled. Moondust was a grainy powder made when loqua was frozen and then ground intensely. It had amazing effects on the mind, and it was a well-known hallucinogen that was outlawed in Valua and a few other countries. Nasr, by contrast, endorsed it's sale.

"But… but he did help us, so he has to be a nice person," Fina objected quietly.

"_Whaat_? _Nice person_? Fina, are you on the dust as well?" Vyse cocked a bemused eyebrow at the timid girl. She blushed and held her hands behind her back, looking down ashamedly.

Aika frowned. "Vyse, don't be a jackass." He put an arm around Fina's slumped shoulders. "Fina's very high-strung, with absolutely no sense of humor or fun." She barely suppressed her own giggle fits as Fina continued to mock-pout.

"Maybe we could both teach her some 'fun'," Vyse suggested lewdly, grinning widely. Fina turned a unique shade of pure scarlet that made the Blue Rogues wonder if she had swallowed a Red Moonstone on accident.

Aika, by contrast, merely winked and put her other arm around her, leaning closer. "Oh, that's such a good idea… _oh_, Fina…" Vyse was amused by this imagery, and also found it suddenly to be very interesting. _They're both beautiful girls, I'd love to see…_

_Damn these hormones. If there's a place lower than Deep Sky, damn them to there._

"Guys," Fina whined, shaking loose of her grip and ducking, standing up again while she laughed. "You two are so weird."

"Ah, she laughs!" Vyse declared, striking another heroic pose. They had entered the north side of the island, and a large sign caught his attention. He looked over and broke the pose, reading it intently. "By Order Of The Empress Of Valua, Her Royal Majesty Teodora X, oh this should be rich, The Following Persons Are Wanted For Direct Violation Of Imperial Anti-Piracy Laws. Hey, we're on here!"

Aika's face brightened up slightly as she and Aika joined Vyse right in front of the long list. "Really? Where? Oh, I see it. All three of us, down there near the bottom… only one star?"

"That means we're worth 200 gold apiece," Vyse reflected, unable to contain his laughter. "600 gold for the crazy teenagers that kicked the Valuan Empire's ass and stole a horde of prisoners right out under that old witch's withered nose. We're gonna have small-time small-minded smelly bounty hunters after us now, in wooden dinghies stolen from some old lady's island. Hey, I got a nickname. Vyse… the Unimpressive." He deflated visibly as the girls laughed.

"Fitting," Aika noted. "The Sailors' Guild is right there, let's check in and see if the bounties _we've_ collected have come in yet." They all walked for the large, sturdy brick structure, but she paused at the inscription, still sitting on the archway. "Hey Fina. Look."

Fina did, and gasped. _Silvite! Moons Alive, where did Arcadians get this language?_ "W-wow."

"That writing on the mantle looks just like some of the symbols on your clothes," Vyse noted idly. Fina had changed back into her elegant native clothing, which only served to enhance her exotic beauty.

"What a coincidence," She said, nervousness causing her voice to waver considerably.

"Fina, is something wrong-"

"It's nothing," She interrupted with more than her usual zest, still quite unnerved by all this, "Um, let's get going, then shall we? Good." The Air Pirates exchanged significant glances in which they silently agreed that they would further investigate this later, then followed their relatively new companion into the Guild building.

The Valuan looked up from his book as they entered this time. "Welcome back to the Sailor's Guild," He said professionally. "Your information was good on the Discovery, sir. It was right where you recorded it. As such, you earned the right to carry home the bounty for Pirate's Grave." Fina watched curiously as he handed Vyse a bag of money. The young man eagerly accepted this boon, and slid the scroll with the Signpost's location onto the deck. "Ah, another one? Most excellent. Next time you're around, swing by to pick up this one as well."

"Anything else to report?" Aika asked. "Any recent news about events?"

The man snorted quietly. "Ma'am, news travels quicker than ships do. Valua is in the most almighty furor about you and your companions and shipmates. Don't worry, just because I'm afraid of them doesn't mean I'll turn you over. After all, I'm safe down here on this island, protected like always with our explosives network."

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask, is that thing real?" Vyse inquired, truly curious. "There's some tell that it's all just a fabrication to keep the Valuans from conquering your island, or that they're duds or something."

"I can assure you," He replied coldly, "All the weapons we have laced to seal our destiny, and those of any invasion force, are quite real, sir. Real as death."

"Alright," Vyse said, backing off. "Thanks for the money. See you around."

"Oh, I almost forgot, blast it all," He said, reaching into his book and pulling out a small circular piece of black paper. "I'm sorry, sir, but angering Valua has risks as well as rewards. You've been Marked."

"I've been what now?" Vyse asked, examining the paper. It was completely blank.

"Marked. By the Angel of Death. She's a bounty hunter that usually stalks a bit east from here. And now, she wants your head."

"What was that about bounty hunters, Aika?" Vyse asked, grinning confidently. "This is so sweet!"

"Vyse, it's not a good thing when someone called the Angel of Death wants after you," She retorted, impatient tone better suited to a thwarted three-year-old than her lifelong friend. Sometimes she wondered.

"We'll handle her if she's got the chutzpah to back up her threats," He said dismissively. "Is that all?" The Guildmaster nodded, although he looked more dubious than Aika about his chances with the Angel of Death, the bounty huntress Piastol. "Then we'll just be leaving now. They're probably ready to fly back at the _Little Jack_ by now."

As they passed out the door, a man who was leaning on the side of the building was observing. He had long hair that covered most of his mysterious, gloomy eyes and a purple piloting coat, and leaned with his arms crossed. He was obviously not an inviting individual. _Hm. Probably just another cocky kid, but I might want to keep my eyes open… that blonde girl looks interesting enough._

The Blue Storm had been working with his crew to load an enormous amount of building supplies and tools into the now mostly-empty cargo holds of Drachma's fishing sloop. Rebuilding their entire town would take resources, but luckily Dyne could foot the bill by asking each crewman to chip in a little. The civic spirit was alive and well, especially amongst one band of ruffians.

Vyse, Aika and Fina appeared on deck, going up the loading ramp quickly. "Hey, Dad. We ready to fly or what?"

Dyne was about to lecture him again about not calling him 'dad', but squelched his remark at the last moment. It wouldn't do any good anyway, and he might as well let his kid bask a while in the shine of his own swelled ego. "Yeah, we've just loaded the last of the materiel. Too bad the work ethic wasn't stronger or we'd be done an hour ago."

Briggs replied with a traditional pirate string of words. These words do not bear repeating, as this story is rated T, and many people of faith might find great offense in some of the more sexual implications. Fina gasped, blushing and putting her hands to her mouth again.

Vyse chuckled. "Yeesh, Briggs. You're scaring Fina, and I think Dad could have you hung for treason about that."

"The only thing she's scared off is how ugly you are," He retorted, sitting tiredly on one of the crates. "You know, Vyse, now I know how you felt when Drachma slave-drove you. No offense," He added to the old man.

"None taken," He rumbled, as usual.

'All hands aboard! Man your general stations," Dyne bellowed. "Let's get the ball rolling."

"Where are we moving, Dad?" Several times in the past the Valuans had come close to discovering the Blue Storm's island base, and each time they relocated to a different part of Mid Ocean. There were millions of small islands all around and landmasses of every shape and size, and it was near-impossible to chart them all. No map existed with even half of all the islands precisely plotted.

"We aren't, son. They'll have every reason to expect us to move-"

"Cause they ain't insane," Briggs interjected.

"-you know, that 'hanging for treason' thing is sounding better and better, which is why we'll be safest if we stay put on Pirate Isle. The closer we are to danger, the father we are from harm."

"Hey, that's a good line, you should have used that back during the execution," Landis chirped, sitting at a small table and working some of his instruments, charting the quickest course through the island-masses and to home.

"I think he did," Rodgers said, emerging from the staircase. Her black coat was still clinging to her mysterious figure, her silver moonstone weapons holstered within their night expanse.

"Either that or having staring competitions with Prince Enrique," Briggs piled on yet again. "I wonder how Martha will feel about _that_, eh?" Everyone chuckled.

"Ay, this is what I have to work with," He mock-confided to Drachma, skillfully feigning a tired old man who's fuel for life had been worn thin by his bunch of misfit family-like Blue Rogues. "Mutiny, I say. You'll all walk the plank on the morn."

"So long as I don't have to walk Vyse's plank first," Aika replied without missing a beat. Fina once again found occasion to change colors, putting Briggs in mind of a chameleon… who only ever had to hide in an active volcano.

"That reminds me of something." Everyone groaned in expectation of another joke, but Vyse merely said, "Aika, what was the name of that free-ship doctor?"

"Doc," She replied. "His ship was the _Sacres_. I remember that well."

"Maybe he's around here. This gun still squirms occasionally with the moonfish, and it's not a comfortable experience at all." Everyone else looked confused, so he quickly and distractedly filled them in on his side-quest to find Moonfish as he utilized his skyglass to examine each ship. He finally found the right one. "Hove to and come about, Briggs. Someone raise the hailing flags." He went out onto the deck of the ship that slowed from cruising speed, nearing the stationary medical frigate.

"Ahoy," Doc hollered once they were within verbal range, waving and tossing a line across. Vyse tossed it back. "What's with that?" He asked as they came closer- within meters of bumping sides.

"Sorry, can't board to talk," He replied. "We were just stopping by. Here," He said, tossing him the gun. He dexterously caught it, twirling it a little then putting it in a custom-made holster on his white coat. "We got two so far. We'll pick up more later when we pass you again, alright?"

"Alright," He nodded. "Thank you for your help! Next time you're around these parts I'll find some way to reward you!"

"No offense, but I hope we don't need the services of a doctor anytime soon," He replied as they started off again, engines rumbling from below decks. The ship turned back towards the South, and soon they were resuming a brisk pace towards home.

0-0

The next time Vyse awoke, it was in a bed. The soft covers contoured around his sleeping form, unlike the Lower City Inn's bed, which worked the other way around (and causing severe cramps in places he preferred not to disclose) He was in his own bed, in his own home, on a small chunk of pockmarked rock in an uneventful corner of the Mid Ocean.

There was a large whole in his roof, and the Valuan cannonball still rested next to his bed. He intentionally kept it, as a memory of the tribulations that had until so recently caused him so much worry. He sighed, yawned and stretched out, various strange and satisfying popping noises being the only direct result to this.

The smell of cooking food wafted up from the hole in the floor with attached ladder that he used to get down into the main part of his house from his room. A rumbling in his stomach reminded him that he hadn't bothered to eat since… a long time ago.

He sprang up and slid down the ladder, landing smoothly on the newly paneled wooden floor. A lot of work had been accomplished in the hours he had spent in REM, he decided. "Hey, family," He greeted jovially, walking to the table and rubbing some more of the sleepy blur from his eyes.

"We're family now, Vyse?" Aika giggled. "How nice of you."

"Huh?" He asked dumbly, then his brain cycled into action. "Hey, Aika, Fina." Fina smiled timidly and nodded to him in a formal manner of greeting. They ate in nearly total silence, except for the rattling of cutlery and the mashing of several sets of teeth.

"Um," Fina spoke up. "Vyse, Aika… can I have a word with you for a moment? Outside?"

"Sure, Fina," Vyse said amicably. _Maybe she's finally going to open up a little more and tell us why the Valuans hunt her as if she's rare game fish_. Aika nodded her assent as well, and the three teenagers stood and excused themselves, going outside.

Outside was still a wreck. Most of the obvious potholes and impact craters had been roughly filled in with dirt, and fallen timbres removed from their resting places, but every single building showed signs of wear, tear and battle. The grass was stained red in a few disturbing patches, and their dojo and armory aboveground was nothing but smoldering ruins now. The Windmill was conspicuously missing, and it somehow felt very empty without it.

She took them to the newly repaired ladder to Lookout Isle, and climbed up it. Aika chuckled. "I'll go next, so you get to watch my ass instead of hers." Before a blushing Vyse could snap off a counter-retort, she started to climb, giggling.

Fina reached the top, waiting for her friends and nervously pressing her hands together. The two Air Pirates took a seat next to each other on the small bench. "This is just like before," Vyse noted idly, glancing from the sky back to Fina. He decided that he liked Fina better.

"I thought it was finally time I was honest with both of you," Fina said quietly. She took a deep breath, and by their silence they urged her to continue. "I am a Silvite, a descendant of the Silver Civilization, and I was born on the Silver Moon."

Vyse blinked. A lot.

"I suppose you both have heard of the Old World and their six component nations, yes? There were six, one under the domain of each of the moons of Arcadia. They were powerful beyond measure, with advanced technology in a prosperous age spanning millennia. Their most pitiful advancements could outpace Valua's best technology. With ease.

No one was sure who started it first. Whatever the causes, the War ended such a vast Golden Age. One of the civilizations managed to create a living weapon… with apocalyptic power. It was called a Gigas, and the amount of energy required to control it means that a special moonstone, distilled absolutely to it's most refined and powerful form, is the only means of wielding it's command.

Do you know how the other civilizations responded to this reckless and thoughtless abuse of power and technology? They responded by building their own Gigas and joining the War.

This war lasted for a hundred years. And it wasn't just the Gigas, but a thousand more powerful weapons of war that killed without mercy. The bloodshed was unthinkable, and unstoppable.

One day, something happened. The Rains of Destruction came, and wiped out all six of the civilizations. For an entire year, moonstones fell from every moon onto Arcadia, bombarding every surviving population center and military outpost into craters of smoldering dust. Millions died, and the landscapes of the planet were forever altered by this holocaust event.

My people managed to get to safety by traveling to the Silver Moon and making our home there, but most were not so lucky. Now, we take it as our self-appointed duty to watch over all of Arcadia, and ensure the Rains never happen again. We act as a peacekeeping force from above, ensuring that no group hordes too much power and becomes aggressive with it, like Valua is doing right now."

"That's why they want you," Vyse said, stunned. "They want these… Gigas?"

"Correct," Fina nodded. "They sought to compel my aid in searching for the Moon Crystals but I resisted. My mission is to find each crystal before the Valuans do and ensure they can never be used for their ultimate purpose."

She looked down, staring at the gently swaying grass on the small rocky island as her two new friends processed all this information. The prospect of a Valuan superweapon was not heartening to the Blue Rogues.

"That is why I hate to ask it of you but… will you join me? Aid me on my quest to secure the Crystals and prevent the Rains again?" She looked to both of them pleadingly.

Vyse nodded, standing up. "Of course we will! We're not going to let Valua blow up the whole god-damned world. There's still so much to explore, and I want to see it all." He gave her a thumbs-up. "I'm with you all the way, Fina."

Fina blushed slightly and nodded. "Thank you very much, Vyse. Aika?"

"Hells yeah," Aika replied. "You're our friend, Fina, remember? You couldn't get rid of us if you had the personality of Cap'n Drachma."

"Maybe I should just leave you all here on this island," Drachma rumbled. They all looked over; how he had gotten on the small island seemed unimportant now compared with his sneaky he was becoming altogether. "Well? What're ya'll looking at? I already know the story, otherwise I wouldn't be helping you at all. Can't hunt Rhaknam if the world is being destroyed."

Fina giggled._ All of them are my friends, and they'll stay by my side…_ an odd, squeaking noise began to float through the air. Vyse squinted, trying to identify the source. Aika looked puzzled, while Drachma didn't react to it originally. Fina's bracelet suddenly detached itself from her hand and floated into the air, forming the shape of a small balloon with a short tail and a face. It's skin was a smooth-looking surface, and it made little chirping noises.

"What is that?" Aika demanded, astonished.

"This is Cupil," Fina said simply. "Cupil, say hello to everyone." The creature chirped and did a back-flip in the air. "He's been my companion for all of my life, and he was assigned to help me on this mission. I had kept him secret before now because no one could be trusted to know of the powerful Silvite technologies that enabled his existence."

"Aww," Aika cooed. "He's kinda cute!"

Vyse rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, nice to meet you too Cupil. So, Captain, when do we set sail, and where for?"

"From what I'm hearin, we could either go after the Yellow or Red Crystals first, they're the closest, boy. Now I'm sure the already warm Valuan hospitality will be heated up even more if we fly anywhere near there for a while, so we're marking our course for Nasr. We sail in two hours. Say your goodbyes, and load up."

"Yes, sir," All three of his new shipmates replied as one.

0-0

Pirate Isle's hollow underground port was empty. The Pirates all remarked how odd it was, that the Albatross was finally gone, and how many years it had been there. An equally old ship replaced it temporarily- _Little Jack_ sat moored to the stony face of the Blue Storm base.

All the inhabitants of the island had come to see off Vyse, Aika, Fina and Drachma. A crowd was developing on the docks, with the women and men alike rowdily cheering them on. Dyne shook his head. "There's nothing I could say that would talk you out of this, son, and frankly I don't want to try. It's time for you to leave the nest, strike out on your own, and make yourself a legend. Good luck, Vyse. As of this moment, you are a man, and my equal." He offered his hand, but Vyse declined the more formal route, just giving his Dad a hug like always.

"Thanks," He replied with a big grin. "I'll come visit when I can."

His mother hugged him fiercely again. "You better, young man. I'll be out here worried about you just like I'm worried about your father, so make sure to take care of yourself, and the girls."

"Oh, he'll be 'taking care' of the girls, alright, I betcha," Someone in back was luckily hidden from a parental glare of wrath from Dyne and Martha.

Landis stepped forward. "Quiet down, you guys," He said, and some of the more rowdy noises did decline slightly. "Ugh. Inbred dough brains. Vyse, Aika, I just wanted to thank you." He grinned. "Without you I'd still be here, wallowing in my own self-pity. It was an honor to accompany you."

"Hey, why don't you come with us again?" Vyse asked.

Landis chuckled. "My adventuring days are somewhat in the past-"

"Before the Rains?"

"- Quiet in the front row, Briggs! Anyway, the Captain needs all the help he can get rebuilding the isle and getting a new flagship so we can get back to doing what we do best."

"Robbery, looting, attacking random rich people?" Aika asked.

"Yep," The navigator replied, beaming with a pride that some felt was ill-earned.

"Well, we'd best get going," Drachma said, walking quietly up the loading ramp. The other three waved as they walked up to the deck of their new temporary home. The crowd roared out a final farewell, and the engines on the ship started. Blue Rogues cut the mooring lines for them, and the island opened up.

The _Little Jack_ was on course for Nasr, and for the destiny that awaited everyone.

**TO BE CONTINUED.**


End file.
